Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) set prices are falling like dominoes, with TV manufacturers following each others’ price reductions in lock-step. Both Sony and LG recently introduced new smaller-screen models that are considerably less expensive than their initial 84-inch offerings. This week Samsung reduced the price of its full-featured UHDTVs for the second time in less than a month. The new pricing and details come after the break.
UHDTV has four times the pixels of high definition television (3840 x 2160 pixel resolution). Samsung’s UN55F9000
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Samsung’s 65-inch version the UN65F9000
Samsung’s largest UHDTV, the 85-inch UN85S9
OLED Pricing
Prices for OLED TVs, meanwhile, are holding fast. According to industry marketing research company NPD Displaysearch, the cost to manufacture a 55-inch RGB OLED HDTV—the type offered by Samsung—is $7300. That implies that Samsung’s KN55S9C
is being sold to dealers at below manufactured cost. The situation is not encouraging for anyone hoping for quick OLED price reductions along the line of what we’ve seen with UHDTV.
NPD DisplaySearch goes on to say that the manufactured cost for white OLED with color filters, the type used by LG for its 55EA9800, is $3600. Considering the LG’s $10,000 price, there is profit to be had.
Further on in the report senior analyst for flat-panel display manufacturing Jae Choi is quoted as saying, “OLED TV has experienced various technical hurdles and roadblocks. The primary reason for the high cost of OLED TV is its low yield ratio.” Choi goes on to add, “The organic material evaporation process is a bottleneck for OLED TV panels made using the RGB (Samsung) method, and oxide TFT yields have not met expectations.”
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