By Alex Jensen –
Black Friday may have got its name a long time before OLED TVs emerged on the scene, but this year it may as well be a celebration of those perfect blacks this self-emissive technology’s exquisite picture quality delivers.
As if there was any doubt that Black Friday 2021 would be a bumper day for OLED TV sales, the deals jumping out this week have been fantastic. The only question for many consumers is not whether to buy an OLED TV, but when – for instance, might we see even better offers on Cyber Monday?
In reality, OLED TVs are selling well throughout the year, not just during a particular sales season. I recently noted that OLED TV shipments are set to increase 78% this year, but more data keeps arriving to prove the overall point that OLEDs are rising fast.
Many of the deals we are seeing feature OLED TVs sold by LG Electronics – not surprising considering the company leads the market, which is driven by OLED panels made by LG Display. I mention this because the LG OLED TV numbers are really interesting. According to market watcher Omdia, a burst of sales in the third quarter, amounting to an increase of around 80% compared to Q3 last year, has seen cumulative shipments of LG OLED TVs exceed 10 million units since they were first launched in 2013, as reported by the Korean media.
Getting to 10 million is impressive in its own right, but note that seven years passed before LG OLED TVs reached the milestone of five million units sold. Doubling that has taken just two years – let that sink in!
It’s not just an LG Electronics thing either. Omdia found that overall OLED TV sales rose to over 1.5 million. With Black Friday upon us and Christmas coming up, the Korean media have also raised expectations that Q4 will witness a record of more than two million OLED TVs sold on a quarterly basis. Yet it may be a ‘Bleak’ Friday for general TV sales, as they are set to drop 10.3% in Q4 compared to the same period last year, having also suffered a double-digit fall in Q3, according to TrendForce.
The contrasting fortunes of OLED TVs and the rest of the TV market can be partly explained by companies really believing in this technology and ensuring that OLED TV production remains solid amid all the other pandemic disruptions. But it’s also clear that consumers are viewing OLED TVs as an increasingly accessible premium TV option – helped by Black Friday offers! People are undoubtedly being drawn by the vivid and immersive viewing experience offered by OLED TVs, even with lower exposure to blue light – and, of course, those perfect blacks. And it makes you wonder; how long will it be before the next doubling of sales?
