Cheaper Oled and QD-Oled televisions from the end of the year

2022 has not been an easy year for display manufacturers. Weak demand has led to underutilization of production capacity, with factories idling. In the third quarter of 2022, for example, LG Display’s Oled panel production plant in South Korea operated at less than 50% of its full production capacity.

As a result, production costs for LG Display’s WOLED (White-Oled) TV panels increased significantly in 2022, according to market research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC). To be convinced of this, just look at the price of 55-inch Oled televisions. These are very rarely found below 1000 €. The LG 55BX was at 999 € in 2021 and it was thought that the Oled models would drop permanently below the 1000 € mark during the year 2022. There was indeed the 55CS around 900 € for the Black Friday in November 2022, but it is now difficult to find a 55-inch television for less than 1000 €.

LG Display’s WOLED panel production costs are expected to decline again in 2023 as demand recovers, and maintain this trend every year until 2026, according to the DSCC’s forecast in its latest report. The production cost of a 55-inch Oled panel should therefore drop from more than $450 in 2022 to $300 in 2024.

Similarly, production costs for QD-Oled panels are expected to drop significantly in 2023 due to improved yield and better utilization of factory production capacity.

Bob O’Brien, co-founder of DSCC, says: “According to our estimates, Samsung has significantly improved QD-Oled performance throughout 2022, the average performance for the year for 65-inch QD-Oled panels was only 68% in 2022. We we expect this to improve to 84% in 2023 and 85% in 2024, and the big leap in yield in 2023 allows for substantial improvement in total cost per unit. average utilization of SDC’s QD-Oled lines increases from 77% to 89%.”

The combination of these two factors, added to modest reductions in the cost of certain components, allows a 30% reduction in the total cost of a 65-inch QD-Oled panel in 2023 compared to 2022. According to DSCC, the cost of a 65-inch panel is expected to go from over $1,000 in 2022 to under $800 in 2023 and even under $750 in 2024.

The reduction in production costs should translate into lower prices for QD-Oled and Oled TVs in the long term, not only in the consumer division of LG and Samsung, but also in other TV manufacturers. We can hope to see the 55-inch models go permanently below the 1000 € mark, while the 65-inch models should sell for less than 1500 €.