SEOUL, KOREA - LG Electronics' curved OLED TVs are selling briskly. The company said on November 2 that the sales number of its 55-inch OLED TV that it launched at the end of September this year has exceeded 1,000 within one month. This is almost comparable that of its LCD TVs. The company explained this is largely due to its price cut below the 4-million-won level.

 

LG Electronics is currently selling two OLED TV models including the 55-inch HD class and the 65-inch ultra HD class. OLED TVs can be made thinner as it doesn't require a backlight unlike the LCD TV, with strength in expressing black and dark colors. For example, the thickness of LG's 55-inch curved OLED TV is only 4.9 mm.

 

The curved TV that was sold 1,000 units within a month has only a quarter of pixel numbers comparing to the ultra HD LCD TV. Still, viewers feel it is better in terms of picture quality than the LCD TV due to the superior contrast ratio and color reproduction rate.

 

The weakest point for the OLED TV has been its price. That's because LG Display was the world's only company that supplies OLED panels. Naturally OLED panels' yield has been quite low comparing to that of LCD panels, which is why OLED TVs were more expensive than LCD TVs. The curved 55-inch OLED TV that LG unveiled early last year was sold at 15 million won (US$14,000), more than five times more expensive than the same-class LCD TV.

 

Recently LG Electronics has increased OLED investment aggressively, which raised the yield and lowered the price. The average production yield of full HD-class OLED panels was recently estimated at around 80 percent. That's how the company could lower its price to 3.99 million won in September.

 

Artilce provided by The Korea Economic Daily