TCL has recently announced that it will officially start making OLED TVs. These TVs will be launched sometime in 2023 and would mark the company’s arrival in the premium segment of TVs. But, this might be good news as it could also have the technology finally becoming affordable.
For those unaware, OLED is a rather expensive when compared to traditional LCD televisions. This is the case despite production for the screen type ramping up in recent years, with more and more manufacturers adopting the technology. Generally, when production picks up and adoption rates rise, the prices gradually drop but that did not affect the prices of OLEDs by a large margin, but now, TCL’s method of making the OLED panels might be significantly cheaper, as per a TechRadar report.
Furthermore, these savings would lead to overall lower RRPs when these TVs eventually launch. This alternative method of OLED production is by using inkjet printed panels (IJP), this effectively ‘prints’ OLED panels between panes of glass, instead of traditional ‘white OLED’ (WOLED) panels found in today’s OLED televisions, which require a more intensive production process that leads to a higher cost.
It was previously estimated that the move to inkjet printing could see the production cost of OLED to fall by about 15 to 25 percent. This, in turn, implies that the launch price of OLED TV prices to drop from around 1,200 US Dollars to about 1,000 US Dollars. Additionally, the shift could also lead to more competition in the market, with more rivals for the current market leader LG Display.
RELATED:
- LG will reportedly supply OLED TV panels to rival Samsung starting from Q2 2021
- Next Week in Tech: Sony Xperia 1 III is coming, New TCL 20 phones, ZTE’s Axon 30 series, OnePlus 9R heading to China
- [UPDATED] Indian company starts making Smart TVs for realme, OnePlus, Infinix and TCL: Report
