OLED TV: Introduction and Industry News - Page 54

A few days ago Turkish-based TV maker Vestel demonstrated its first OLED TVs at the IFA 2016 trade show. This is a 65" 4K HDR TV (with panels provided by LG Display).

Vestel did not yet reveal the model number or any pricing details or release date. The video above shows Vestel's booth and those new OLED TVs.

Turkish-based TV makers Vestel and Arçelik both demonstrated OLED TVs at the IFA 2016 trade show. These two OLED TVs use 65" 4K HDR panels, made by LG Display of course.

Vestel OLED TV at IFA 2016

Vestel is Europe's largest TV makers, and both companies will also offer these new TVs for OEMs. The two companies did not reveal any actual release plans or model numbers for these new TVs.

Kwon Bong-seok, LG Electronic's home entertainment eVP, says that LG is strengthening its OLED TV marketing, as the company sees OLED TVs becoming a "central megatrend" in 2016.

LG says that OLED TVs hold a market share of about 90% in the global premium TV market. The company is strengthening its distribution channels in the global market - including a cooperation with Best Buy in the US. LG expects more than 10 TV makers to sell OLED TVs in 2016.

In July Loewe announced its first OLED TV series, The Bild 7, and the company is now demonstrating its upcoming TV at IFA 2016:

The Bild 7 uses flat 4K OLED panels (produced by LG Display) and features Loewe's own image processing software (VantaVision) and a slim and powerful soundbar that is revealed only when the TV is activated. The Bild 7 will launch later this month for €4,990 (55") and €6,990 (65").

Exactly one year ago at IFA 2016, Panasonic unveiled its first OLED TV, the 65" curved 4K TX-65CZ950. Now Panasonic unveiled a new "reference" OLED TV prototype, with an aim to show what is possible with next-gen OLED technology.

Panasonic said that it achieved significant progress with near-black reproduction, by applying its plasma self-illuminating experience. It's not clear what is meant exactly, but this probably related to software algorithms Panasonic is developing to increase the quality of the OLED TV image. The panel, of course, is supplied by LG Display.

LG Electronics installed a huge OLED "tunnel" at this year's IFA trade show. The OLED installation is made from 216 55" curved OLED TVs - to reach a total of almost half a billion pixels.

LG says that this is the world's largest OLED installation - surpassing the large installation the company already unveiled at Inchieon Airport and N. Seoul Tower.

Turkish domestic appliances maker Arçelik says that it will launch its first OLED TV next month. Arçelik first OLED TV will feature a 65" 4K HDR panel, of course produced by LG Display.

Arçelik aims to be Turkey's first OLED TV maker. In 2015 Vestel, another producer based in Turkey, says it will bring OLED TVs to market in 2017.

LG hosted an OLED TV event in Israel together with the Israeli HomeTheater.co.il site. During the event, LG's Israeli executive said that the company aims to increase the OLED market share in the 55" TV category to 17% in 2016 (in terms of revenues, not shipments). The market share in 2015 was only 1.4%.

This is a very ambitious target indeed, but LG says that they already see more and more people buying OLED TVs in Israel, OLED TVs are displayed in retail stores all over in Israel and people are asking about OLEDs and are starting to become familiar with the new technology. The 55" FHD OLED TVs are no longer considered "hi-end" by LG's Israeli marketing team, which is an interesting comment. You can see the full video below (in Hebrew):

LG lowered the price of its high-end OLED E6 TVs. The 65" model now costs $4,999 while the 55" model now costs $3,499. The E6 is a series of flat-panel 4K smart OLED TVs introduced in 2016 that feature an ultra-slim on-glass design, a fixed soundbar, LG's webOS 3.0, Color Prime PRO technology and HDR.

In early 2016 UBI Research estimated that LG Display will produce 1.2 million OLED TV panels in 2016, and 8.1 million in 2020. But now UBI Research reduced those estimates by around 20-30% to 800,000-900,000 panels in 2016 and about 6 million in 2020.

The reason for this reduction is the fact that LG Display is producing more 65" panels then estimated. We have heard this several times before - LGD sees larger than expected demand for 65" OLED TVs, and is producing more larger panels as a result. Because the company's total area production capacity is limited, this means that the total amount of produced panel is lower