In 2013, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, dazzling OLED TV debuted. Later that year, Samsung on the TV market for this $ 10,000 (63622 yuan) 55-inch TV Hype.
Among those promotions, one of them was a loft party held in the Hyde Park community in London. The Hyde Park community is known as the most expensive residential area in the world.
But by 2015, the company has stopped producing OLED TVs. The company claims that the market is not yet ready to accept high-cost technologies. Instead, it decided to focus on developing LCD screens that are backlit. , And through the so-called quantum dot enhancement. Semiconductor nanocrystals can emit light of different colors, and can improve image quality. Televisions that use this kind of screen are called QLED TVs.
Stopping production of OLED TV seems to be a mistake
It seems that stopping producing OLED TVs seems to be a costly mistake.
As production costs have dropped significantly, OLED TVs have become the dominant technology in the high-end market. At present, high-end TVs refer to TVs that are 55 inches or more in size and priced at more than 2,500 US dollars (15,905 yuan).
Currently, Samsung is the only large TV manufacturer that does not produce OLED screens. Although the profit of its TV business is less than 3% of Samsung's total profit, Samsung's profits are mainly derived from its semiconductor and mobile phone businesses. But for it, losing it The leading position in the high-end TV market is definitely a heavy blow.
Online reviews of OLED and QLED TVs over the past few years have shown that Korean LG Electronics and Japan’s Sony OLED TVs have gained a lot of fans due to their excellent image quality.
It is worth mentioning that critics have said that OLED TVs have more realistic colors, high resolution, attractive designs and more and more reasonable prices.
However, this does not mean that Samsung's QLED TVs do not have their own supporters. Their image quality has also improved and their prices have declined, but they are not the first choice for critics.
Ross Young, chief executive of market research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants, said: 'The dramatic increase in the share of OLED TVs in the high-end TV market is a direct result of its outstanding image quality. Samsung may be in its 2017 There was a mistake in the product strategy for the year. It should not overemphasize product design and ignore image quality.
Research firm IHS Markit's data shows that from the dollar revenue point of view, Samsung’s share of the global high-end TV market was only 18.5% last year, down from 54.7% in 2015. At the same time, Sony and LG have surpassed Samsung. Occupies 36.9% and 33% market share.
Of course, Samsung is still the world's largest TV maker. It has retained this title for 12 years. Samsung also claims to be the largest high-end TV maker. Data from market research firm GfK shows that Samsung accounts for more than 40%. Market share.
Sony and LG make more efficient production
According to informed sources, Samsung Electronics decided to base its TV business on LCD technology. The decision was made after the company heard suggestions from the company's now disbanded company strategy office.
The source said: 'The office proposed that focusing on the LCD rather than turning to unproven OLED technology would be more profitable.'
According to sources, the reason is that TV business is fighting the decline in profits. The company believes that LCD technology may be more profitable than high-cost OLED technology.
The only problem is that when Samsung makes this decision, LG is developing a more efficient manufacturing process to manufacture OLED screens.
LG said that the retail price of a mainstream LG 55-inch OLED TV has dropped from 15 million won (approximately US$14056) in 2013 to 3 million won (approximately US$2811) this year.
Samsung said that its biggest reason for not producing OLED TVs is the aging of the screen.
However, LG stated on its US website that although aging may occur on almost any display screen, it has solved this problem through technology that can prevent damage to the screen and correct short-term problems.
Profit data shows that Samsung is behind Sony and LG in high-end TV market
Last month, the impact of this fight on corporate performance became even more pronounced.
LG said on Thursday that its TV business unit profit increased by 77% in the quarter ending in March, and its profit margin reached a record 14%.
Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday that its consumer electronics division’s quarterly profit fell by 32%, and the division sold televisions and household appliances. The company said that its quarterly revenue declined compared to the same period last year, partly because the company changed The product line, stop selling some low-end and mid-priced televisions.
Sony’s television business has accumulated a loss of 800 billion yen (about 7.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the past 10 years, but in the fiscal year ending in March 2017, this part of its business achieved a turnaround.
In order to turn a profit, Sony reduced the number of global markets and diversified the supply chain. At the same time, it also provided OLED TVs and LCD TVs. In addition, it also abandoned the LCD joint venture established with Samsung.
Sony's strategy worked. From the dollar revenue point of view, Sony's share of the global television market last year was only 10.2%, but it ranked first in the high-end market.
John Soh, an analyst at Shinhan Investment, said that the company’s operating profit margin for the period from September to December last year reached 10.7%.
According to IHS data, Samsung’s prospects in the high-end TV market may further deteriorate. This year, 71% of sales are expected to come from OLED TVs, up from 51% last year.
According to Choong Hoon Yi, the former Samsung display engineer at OLED research institute, and former Samsung display engineer Choong Hoon Yi, it seems that Samsung has made a mistake, but it didn’t seem like a mistake at the time, because Samsung thinks OLED technology is too immature. When asked whether it plans to restart the production and sales of OLED TVs, Samsung said that it will focus on QLEDs and micro LED technology to lead the high-end market.
Last month, Jonghee Han, president of Samsung TV, said: 'Our strategy has not changed.'
Some analysts said that Samsung may not fail because it can counterattack from the price side.
According to online channel data, the price of Q7F 55-inch QLED TV launched by Samsung in 2018 was initially US$ 1,900, which was lower than last year’s US$ 2,500. At the same time, the initial price of the LG 55-inch C7 OLED TV was 3,500 US dollars last year. This year's C8 starts at $2,500.