Cheap OLED TVs may be on the horizon - here's why

While they may be the TVs to go for, there's no denying that OLED and QD-OLED TVs are expensive. With LG, Sony and Samsung all raising the prices of their respective (QD-) OLED TVs this year, it looked bleak for the future of TVs. Thankfully, this new report may bring some levity if you're in the market for a new TV (and if you are, may we suggest using our best TV guide as a reference), as OLED models might be getting cheaper from this year onwards.

2022 was a disastrous year for OLED manufacturers, with FlatpanelsHD reporting that a lack of demand for OLED sets had a major knock-on effect on panel factories;  LG Display's OLED factory was reportedly operating at 50 per cent below its full production capacity, for example. This resulted in the prices of OLED and QD-OLED panels to begin skyrocketing, as manufacturers tried to turn a profit under these difficult circumstances, hence the pricier OLED TVs cropping up this year. 

Thankfully, the end is in sight for this OLED plight, as demand has increased this year which has meant the production cost of WOLED panels is beginning to drop. There's even better news, however, as this trend is predicted to continue into 2026, with prices supposedly continuing to fall for the next three years - result!

And for those after one of the new QD-OLED sets (either the Sony A95L or the Samsung S95C perhaps), you might be in luck too, as 65-inch QD-OLED panel production costs are set to drop by 30 per cent. Now we hope this means that OLED and QD-OLED TVs will start to fall in price, however, there are a few things to consider before we fantasize about affordable OLEDs.

Manufacturers are likely planning on using this fall in production price to recoup the profits from prior years because, as we've established, demand fell and in turn, sales dropped. Therefore, we don't expect to see the likes of the LG C3 OLED or Sony A80L suddenly plummet in price, however, we can look to later in the year as this isn't entirely off the table - we have our fingers crossed for Black Friday as always. 

We instead look to next year's models to see how retail pricing could be affected. We hope that 2023's price surge to be a momentary trend, and for the cost of TVs to fall next year, meaning a cheaper year for OLED (think LG G4 and C4) and QD-OLED (speculatively the Samsung S95D and Sony A95M) TVs respectively.

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Check out our picks for the best OLED TVs

As well as our overall list of best TVs

Read our full LG C3 OLED review