Sales of LCD TVs are looking like they’ll decline this year according to a new forecast from the market researcher Omdia. In its latest prediction, Omdia says LCD TV shipments will fall to just 211.639 million units, the lowest number since 2010 and around 1.89 million units less than last year. 

The decline in LCD TV sales is due to a combination of factors, including rising inflation, the decline of COVID-19 and also the rise of OLED TVs, Omdia said. It noted that demand for LCD TVs in North America, Europe and China only was already down 20% in the first quarter compared to one year ago. 

On the other hand, OLED TV sales are expected to grow, Omdia said. It believes global OLED TV shipments will grow to more than eight million units, up more than 20% from a year ago. 

“The market share of the product in terms of shipments is estimated at 4 percent this year, much lower than 96 percent of LCD TVs, and yet the share in terms of sales is expected to rise to 12.8 percent after having topped 10 percent for the first time last year,” Omdia said, according to Business Korea. 

Omdia said LCD TV demand is decreasing because South Korean display makers LG Display and Samsung Display are slowly but surely exiting the business amid falling prices for LCD TV panels. While LG Display hasn’t completely exited the LCD TV business yet, it did recently announce that it is drastically cutting back on their production. Meanwhile, Samsung Display plans to exit the business entirely this year. 

At the same time, the major TV brands are showing less interest in LCD too. For instance, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics both reduced LCD panel orders in March, Omdia said. Both companies are now much more focused on OLED. In addition, Omdia said Chinese TV brands are also ordering less LCD TV displays than before as the lower panel prices hurt their profitability. 

What Omdia is really saying then is that the focus of the TV market is starting to shift much closer to OLED. LG Electronics has long since switched to using OLED TVs as its flagship products and dominates the market segment. For the first time this year, Samsung Electronics is also selling OLED TVs and it’s widely expected to strengthen its OLED lineup in the future.