IHS Markit said OLED TV shipments broke all records in the fourth quarter of 2019, topping 1 million units for the first time ever. In total, around 1.1 million OLED TVs were sold during Q4, bringing the year’s total sales to just north of 3 million, representing 1.3% of the overall global TV market.
Now, the analyst firm is expecting big things for OLED TVs, which came with extremely expensive price tags were first launched by LG Electronics in 2013, but are now within the reach of the average consumer, BusinessKorea reported.
What’s interesting is the way OLED TV shipments soared in the last quarter, having remained fairly stable with around 600,000 units shipped in the first three quarters of the year. IHS Markit said the 66.5% increase in OLED shipments in fourth quarter was due to “increased demand” during what is the peak buying season.
LG Electronics remains the leading OLED TV brand by some distance, with the 598,000 units it shipped last year giving it a 53.9% share of the market overall, IHS Markit said. However the company’s market share is falling as other companies start selling OLED models. In recent months, companies including Hisense, Huawei, Xiaomi and Vizio have all announced they would start selling their first OLED models this year.
LG Electronics has already made it known that it believes 2020 will be the year that OLED finally goes mainstream. The company is heavily invested in the technology, to the point that it’s now began winding down most of its LCD display production lines in order to focus on OLED. It also continues to take the lead regarding any new developments with OLED – this year for example, it will start selling its first ever 48-inch OLED TV, before any other brand.
IHS Markit has forecast OLED TV shipments to rise to 4.5 million units this year, and reckons the market will continue to grow with 6.7 million shipments in 2021, 9.35 million in 2022, and 11.5 million in 2023. A lot will depend on LG’s ability to ramp up production at its new OLED fab in Guangzhou, China, however.
