With the global economy on the rocks and disposable income shrinking fast, you might expect the makers of OLED TVs to drop their prices in hopes of persuading consumers to open their wallets.
Well, it seems you'd be wrong. A new report by respected analysts Display Supply Chain Consultants (via The Elec, OLED-info, hdtvtest) claims that OLED TV prices will remain stable for the next 2-3 years.
The reason? LG Display and Samsung Display – two of the biggest players in the OLED TV market – are predicted to slash investment in OLED manufacturing equipment.
DSCC reckons that overall spending on equipment has already halved from $3 billion in 2019 to $1.47 billion in 2021. This is predicted to drop further, to $1.42 billion in 2022 and then zero in 2023.
The lack of investment is said to be down to a number of factors including economic uncertainty, high inflation and poor profitability in the large-size OLED market (think 77-inches and beyond).
It's not all doom and gloom, though. LG Display is tipped to invest US$492 million in 2024, while the OLED TV industry as a whole is expected to spend some $2.011 billion, most of which will go on state-of-the-art robots that use inkjet technology to 'print' OLED screens.
So OLED TVs will be ten a penny from 2024 onwards, right? Sadly not. DSCC believes that despite the upcoming investments, neither LG Display or Samsung Display will drastically increase capacity between now and 2025, thus ensuring that prices continue to remain firm.
There might be some good news if you're considering a QD-OLED model like the excellent Sony XR-55A95K (QD-OLED is said to combine the best qualities of QLED and OLED displays), though.
Samsung is not expected to splash the cash on smarter QD-OLED manufacturing equipment, but it is believed to have found a new way to simplify the production process and slash costs.
With any luck, those reductions will be passed onto cash-strapped consumers over the next couple of years.
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