I’m at CES in Las Vegas, and earlier today I was given a sneak peek at what Samsung is preparing to unveil on the market at its massive TV display at the Wynn, located outside the main show floor. One of the headline announcements will be a new Samsung QD-OLED TV capable of reaching an eye-catching 4,500 nits of peak brightness.
In Australia and globally, Samsung has become a growing problem for LG Electronics.
Once the undisputed leader in OLED TVs, LG is now facing mounting pressure following years of loss-making investment in OLED panel production.
Samsung’s OLED TV shipment share continued to rise through 2025, driven by the strength of its global brand and an increasingly competitive product lineup.
This comes as LG attempts to rebrand its OLED range in an effort to better differentiate it from intensifying competition.
According to recent research Samsung’s OLED TV shipment share reached 12.3 per cent of its total TV sales in the first half of 2025, surpassing the 10 per cent mark for the first time — a significant milestone in Samsung’s OLED strategy.
The growth reflects steady adoption of Samsung’s OLED models, including more affordable lines such as the S90F, alongside its flagship offerings.
Pressure on LG accelerated in 2024, when Samsung sold approximately 1.44 million OLED TVs globally, capturing around 27.3 per cent of the worldwide OLED TV market especially in the highly competitive US market.
This represented a 42 per cent year-on-year increase in unit sales and a 4.6 percentage-point gain in market share compared with the previous year.
While LG continues to lead the OLED TV market overall, the company is struggling to generate consistent profits from its display manufacturing arm.
LG Display invested heavily in large-area OLED panel production, particularly Gen 8.5 fabrication plants designed for TV panels.
However, demand has not grown as quickly as expected, leaving utilisation rates at roughly 50–60 per cent.
The result has been a business burdened by high fixed costs and under-utilised capacity.
Although LG Display has recently posted back-to-back quarterly profits as OLED demand shows signs of recovery, these gains have been uneven and follow multiple quarters of losses.
Some of the improvement has also been attributed to one-off factors, such as favourable currency movements, rather than sustained operational strength.
At CES 2025, Samsung Display is also showcasing a 5,000-ppi RGB micro-OLED, underlining the company’s aggressive push across multiple display technologies.
Globally, Samsung Display remains the sole manufacturer of QD-OLED panels, supplying not only Samsung TVs but also Sony models.
The company is betting on a new generation of QD-OLED panels featuring optimised organic materials and supporting peak brightness levels of up to 4,500 nits, among the highest ever achieved by a self-emissive display.
QD-OLED achieves this peak luminance by combining the maximum brightness of each RGB component.
Compared with competing products offering similar brightness levels, QD-OLED delivers more vivid colour reproduction and higher perceptual brightness, while also enhancing compatibility with AI-based picture-quality optimisation technologies claims Samsung management at CES.
Both Samsung and LG management also know that by the end of 2026 Chinese OLED manufacturers are poised to start reshaping the OLED industry through scale, competitive pricing, and expanding tech capabilities.
Over the next several years (2026+), this will benefit broader OLED adoption globally but also intensify competition for established players and introduce new strategic dynamics related to IP, regional supply chains, and market segmentation.
Samsung is also preparing new OLED monitors capable of reaching 4,500 nits under certain conditions.
Currently Samsung Display is developing OLED displays for new automotive applications, robotics, lighting, portable devices, with these also on show at CES 2026.
The company will also showcase its ultra-thin (UT) OLEDs, which are 30 per cent thinner and 30 per cent lighter, with mass production set to begin in 2026.
“Samsung OLED and QD-OLED are no longer just for gamers or professionals,” a Samsung Display spokesperson said. “They are now ideal solutions for both office and home users in the AI era. More than 300 tablet, laptop and monitor models launched last year adopted Samsung Display panels — more than triple the number from three years ago.”
