LG Electronics, the leader in OLED display, declared the panel has endured market stress test to become a mainstream in high-end TV market.

During a technology briefing session held at its Gumi plant in Gyeongbuk, the company said global sales of OLED TV would hit 3.6 million units this year, a 1,000-fold growth from 3,600 units in 2013, citing fresh data from market researcher IHS Markit.

More than 10 percent of worldwide TV market sales will be generated by OLED TV within five years as 15 major TV makers have joined the company’s OLED camp, LG Electronics forecast.

The 1,000-fold increase suggests LG Electronics has already crossed the chasm to mainstream buyers, said Lee Jeong-seok, vice president at LG Electronics’ Home Entertainment Division.

The chasm theory describes how high-tech products initially sell well to early adopters, but then hit a lull in three to four years later before crossing the chasm to mainstream buyers.

The company’s current sales of OLED TV are equivalent to its entire production capacity and its output will increase from 2021 when a new production line becomes operational at its Paju plant.

Lee also said OLED is a mainstream technology in the TV market, downplaying QLED from rival Samsung Electronics. Samsung’s SUHD TV was just renamed into QLED in 2017 and sales data show there was actually no change in Samsung’s sales before and after the rebranding, brushing off Samsung’s claim that QLED TV sales are improving.

By Hwang Soon-min and Minu Kim

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