What They Say
In a look back at premium TV during CES and analysed on the basis of price band, DSCC said that it is more uncertain whether Samsung Electronics will buy WOLEDs from LG Display for use in TVs than it was. It also clarified that Samsung’s microLED TVs will switch from a PCB backplane to TFTs on glass to enable a switch to smaller LEDs with narrower pitch. (Macroblock discussed this PCB v glass issue Macroblock Talks Up Virtual Production and MiniLED).
The firm sees the likely pricing of QD-OLED at above $3,000 for Sony’s 55″, while Samsung may try to get sets below that price.
The article goes down to around $1000 and author, Bob O’Brien, said that he would not be surprised to see an entry level OLED TV from LG at $999 by the end of the year.
What We Think
As I have mentioned several times, NPD’s Stephen Baker thinks that premium sets start at $700 in the US now although this analysis stops at around $1000.
DSCC said earlier that it heard enough noise to indicate that the Samsung WOLED purchase deal seemed real, but is now less certain. A couple of years after I had started to report on the display market, after I had developed better connections with the component supply chain, I realised that one of the major CRT makers, which was always very helpful, was starting to use my publication to ‘soften up’ set makers who were my subscribers before raising prices. If I was Samsung in a tough negotiation with LGD, I might well want the world (and LGD) to think that the deal might go away. I think it’s Heisenberg who suggested that you can’t measure something without changing it! (BR)
Samsung’s microLED info at CES. Image original:DSCC
