LG Electronics Inc. is approaching a new milestone of 20 million organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs in cumulative sales since the commercial launch of the advanced display technology a decade ago.

According to sources on Monday, cumulative shipments of LG OLED TVs as of the end of last year exceeded 15 million units. If the current trend continues, the figure is expected to hit 20 million units this year.

In 2013, LG Electronics debuted a large OLED TV. Since then, the company has maintained its No. 1 position in the global OLED TV market for 10 consecutive years.

The global OLED TV market remains on a growth curve. Annual sales, which stood at only 4,000 units in 2013, grew rapidly to 6.8 million units last year. The number of OLED TV manufacturers increased to 22. With the participation of Samsung Electronics Co. and China’s TCL, consumer options in product offerings are diversifying.

Samsung Electronics plans to sell its OLED TV product in the Korean market starting this year. Recently, the company obtained radio wave certification for its 77-inch QD-OLED TV from authorities, suggesting that its release is imminent. TCL debuted its own OLED TV model at CES 2023 last month.

According to market research firm Omdia, global OLED TV shipments are expected to grow by 9 percent this year from 2022. OLED TV shipments account for only 3.6 percent of the total TV market this year, but they are expected to command nearly half of the premium TV market where the price tag is over $1,500.

LG Electronics is concentrating on developing technologies to set itself apart from others with diversity and differentiation in the size, shape and function of its OLED TV offerings. For example, the company is pursuing differentiated picture quality even on the same display panel with a 5th generation artificial intelligence Alpha 9 processor created based on the OLED picture quality and sound quality data.

By Oh Chan-jong and Minu Kim

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