In 2023 LG Electronics and archrival Samsung were forced to re-price their 2022 TV’s after initially showing them at CES, Launching them in April, and then slashing thousands off their top end models by August, this saw LG report a $64M loss from their TV business in the July to September period when prices were being slashed.
Now LG is showing a new range of OLED TV’s at CES 2023 however executives are none committal on pricing or whether 2023 is going to see significant falls in volume going into retail stores as other brands who are buying LG Display OLED panels offer cheaper models.
This year LG is pushing connectivity and customisation of their new Web OS as well as a new processor engine upgrade.
While Samsung has their SmartThings technology to link devices and platforms LG is punting on their Sync to You, Open to All technology that links to their OLED display TV’s and webOS.
Yesterday I caught a sneak peek of LG’s new OLED evo TV that LG executives claim boosts display brightness by around 70 percent compared with existing OLED TVs.
Another key feature in the new TV is technology that reduces reflection of light on the screen.
For brands such as Samsung the big issue is pricing for their new TVs, with two of the world’s biggest brands looking to use their latest technology upgrades to lift prices a process that has failed in the past, with both Companies forced to slash thousands off the price of their premium TV’s literally weeks after the launch of new models.
LG’s new OLED evo is a second-generation OLED panel, with more light per pixel than before and improved brightness and better colour accuracy. Blacks are deeper and darker, and other colours are richer and creamier on LG OLED evo TVs, LG executives at CES claim.
With all top end TV’s, the unlock key to a premium experience is the processor and both LG and Samsung are punting on new processors for their top end models to boost the performance of their 2023 models.
The new LG evo TV has an improved artificial intelligence processor, which enables it to analyse even a show producer’s intention of making a certain scene and automatically adjust the brightness and other effects.
When turned on, the webOS home screen will appear on the latest OLED evo TV, the company said, just like a smartphone, allowing users to pick whatever applications they wish to watch.
Credit: LG
LG said its smart TV platform now offers more than 2,500 applications and is fitted with a more advanced recommendation algorithm tailored to individual taste and need.
The problem for LG is that they are reliant on the premium TV market with the Company moving away from the mid to value end of the TV market which has been taken over by brands offering value TVs with LG’s WebOS built in
LG Australia is punting on success in the high-margin, premium TV segment to keep its competitive edge over rivals. In the past the business has dominated in the OLED TV market, now Samsung has entered this market with their own OLED panel. the next problem is that LG Display that has also lost money in 2022 is selling OLED panels to a multitude of brands who are selling OLED TVs in Australia significantly cheaper than LG and Samsung.
For both Samsung and LG Pandemic-driven demand for home appliances, including TVs, has lost steam, and aggressive rate hikes in Australia aimed at bringing inflation under control his set to significantly curtail spending power.
According to research firm TrendForce, global TV shipments in the second half are forecast to undergo a 2.7 percent on-year decline to reach 109 million units.
TV shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to grow by 10.8 percent on-quarter to 56.96 million units but down 3.5 percent from a year ago, it said, adding that the annual shipment for 2022 is expected to reach a decade low of 202 million units.
During earnings call in late October, LG said it planned “to ease cost burden by raising the sale prices of our premium line-up,” of which demand is still robust among deep-pocket consumers.
