It was hailed as the next big thing in OLED TV technology, now LG Electronics who puts out press releases on just about everything, has failed to announce that their rollable TV project has been quietly dumped, and that their big OLED TV experiment that was supposed to be the future for TV is well and truly dead and gone.
Some are questioning whether the South Korean Company who is fast becoming a data capture business, via the sale of advertising and personal data collected from owners of an LG TV, have another flop on their hands with retailers showing little if any interest in selling their transparent TV’s which were announced at CES 2024.
The dumping of their rollable TV’s comes five years after its flashy introduction at CES 2019, with the business claiming at the time that they had a “major advantage” over their competition.
LG went as far as to say that the launch of the TV “marks a turning point in TV history”.[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEaseZ6-ELg[/embedyt]
ChannelNews understands that LG Electronics attempts to sell the $129,999 rollable TVs direct failed with retailers also shunning the concept.
LG Electronics Australia’s head of consumer marketing, now General Manager Tony Brown said at the launch “LG R Rollable OLED TV reimagines what a TV is capable of and revolutionises the way people use their space,”.
One thing he did get right was when he claimed “This TV “isn’t for everyone”.
He described the TV as a cutting-edge demonstration of what you can do with OLED technology.
Now that LG has discontinued its rollable OLED TV and abandoned the project, the Company is moving to pitch a transparent TV which several observers at CES 2024 said would also become a failure.
The original R9 rollable OLED TV model was later replaced by the RX in 2020 and the 65″ R1 in 2021.
Since then, there has been little noise around the marketing of their rollable TV concept.
ChannelNews understands that a former senior TV industry board member in Australia did actually negotiate a cheap price for one, but he has since gone back to a large Samsung TV.
The idea was for users to be able to hide their TV in a sunken floor or cabinet when not in use.
The speaker underneath the floor doubled as a music system.
Apparently, the LG production line closed late last year, according to internal sources with LG failing to announce the demise of their rollable TV operation.
LG’s failure to significantly bring down production costs and increased install and repair costs are believed to have contributed to the demise of the premium priced TV.
LG has recently retrieved demo units from various locations where they were attempting to show off the concept.
Last year LG released another questionable TV concept with the introduction of a ‘Wireless OLED TV” via a large connection box that has to be located somewhere else in a room, Vs the Samsung concept which is based on a slim connection box neatly located on the rear of their premium TV’s.
This year, LG will launch its first transparent OLED TV, also powered by the wireless connection box with observers tipping this as eventually heading to the same graveyard, as their rollable TV due to poor appeal from consumers and a failure by retailers to show interest in stocking a transparent TV.
“We will continue to introduce innovative products that provide customers with differentiated premium value, such as the ‘wireless-transparent OLED TV’ unveiled at CES 2024 earlier this year,” an LG spokesperson told Korean newspaper Chosun.
