Samsung To Launch Much-Anticipated QD-OLED TV, Expand MicroLED Lines

New technology launches are aimed at strengthening its TV market leadership

August 10, 2021

Bin Lee

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest TV maker, will launch the much-anticipated QD-OLED TV in the first half of next year, while expanding its MicroLED TV lines to enhance its presence in the premium market.

According to industry sources on July 25, the South Korean tech giant is developing 55-inch and 65-inch quantum dot organic light emitting diode (QD-OLED) TVs for market launch in the first half of 2022.

Samsung could showcase its first-ever QD-OLED TVs during next year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, according to the sources.

“Samsung is strengthening its premium strategy. Next year, it plans to unveil new QLED and QD-OLED TVs in the quantum dot category as well as MicroLED TVs in various sizes,” said an industry official.

QD-OLED TV panels will be supplied by Samsung Display Co., which began producing such panels late last year.


When launched, the QD-OLED TVs will be placed between its top-premium segment of MicroLED TVs and its flagship QLED lines.

The company will initially launch the 55-inch and 65-inch models, consumers' preferred sizes, and later unveil larger 70-inch QD-OLED TVs, according to industry officials.

QD-OLED is a hybrid design that combines the brightness and colors of quantum dot technology, found in Samsung’s existing flagship QLED TVs, with backlighting from self-emissive OLED panels.

According to Samsung, the QD-OLED TV can also come in a flexible form as it doesn’t need backlighting.
 

Samsung's The Frame TV

RAMP-UP OF MicroLED TVs


In March, Samsung unveiled its 2021 TV lineup, including new Mini LED TVs, dubbed the Neo QLED, and MicroLED TVs in various sizes as part of its efforts to retain its global TV market leadership for the 16th year.

The Mini LED offers a more effective, more efficient way of backlighting the LCD pixels of a TV screen. Quantum LED or QLED TVs use tiny LED chips that generally range in size from 100 to 200 micrometers for backlighting, providing better resolution and higher clarity.

During the 2021 CES in January, Samsung also unveiled a new 110-inch MicroLED TV. MicroLED is a panel technology that uses millions of self-emitting pixels, meaning they emit their own light rather than using a backlight.

Industry officials said Samsung plans to build a new TV manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam dedicated to making smaller 77-inch and 88-inch MicroLED TVs, scheduled for launch by the end of this year.

The new production line will begin mass production in 2022, they said.


The company is currently ramping up its production facilities for 110-inch MicroLED TVs at the Vietnamese plant.

Last week, Samsung said it is also launching an upgraded model of The Wall, a large-size modular MicroLED display product, in the global market.
 

Samsung Electronics' new MicroLED display, The Wall, installed at its building in Suwon

TFTs for MicroLED PANELS

In a move to cut the production cost of the MicroLED TVs to the level of 8K QLED TVs, Samsung plans to switch the MicroLED panel plate to thin-film transistors (TFTs) from printed circuit boards (PCBs).

Samsung Display recently set up a task force for the development of TFTs for MicroLED panels, according to the sources.


According to market researcher Omdia, Samsung was the world's leading TV vendor for the 15th straight year in 2020 with a market share of 31.9%. In the first quarter of this year, its global TV market share expanded to 32.9%.

Industry research firm TrendForce said global shipments of mini LED backlight TVs are projected to reach 4.4 million units in 2021, accounting for about 2% of the overall TV market.

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