Korean Media: From Competitor to Client – LG Display Supplies OLED Panels to TCL!
On April 18, South Korean media outlet "Today's Finance" published an article stating that LG Display has begun supplying OLED panels to Chinese company TCL.
According to industry insiders, LG Display’s 31.5-inch W-OLED panels have been incorporated into TCL’s “32X3A OLED Monitor.” This product marks TCL’s first OLED monitor and is reported to have started shipping earlier this year.
The device is a high-end gaming monitor featuring 4K resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of 1300 nits, and 99% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Notably, it also utilizes LG Display’s dual-mode technology, which allows for a maximum refresh rate of up to 480Hz at 1080p resolution.
TCL is one of China’s leading monitor manufacturers and owns its own panel subsidiary, CSOT. Previously, TCL was a competitor to LG Display. However, TCL’s decision to adopt Korean-made panels in its premium OLED products is interpreted as an acknowledgment of the technological gap between LG Display and Chinese panel makers.
This case illustrates that although Chinese companies dominate the LCD market, they still face challenges in the high-performance OLED segment, where requirements for refresh rate and response speed are extremely high. Particularly noteworthy is the analysis indicating that Chinese enterprises continue to rely on Korean panels in high-value IT products such as gaming monitors.
Although LG Display has long supplied TV OLED panels to Chinese companies like Hisense and Skyworth, this collaboration marks the first time the company has partnered with a global home appliance manufacturer in the premium gaming monitor sector. As such, some believe this partnership may signal a pivotal shift—expanding LG Display’s OLED application from televisions into IT products.
The overall structure of the display market is also evolving. Industry experts interpret this collaboration as evidence of the global display market center shifting from LCD to OLED. Other analyses suggest this aligns with LG Display’s strategy of increasing the proportion of OLED monitors to enhance profitability.
This supply arrangement is also seen as a valuable opportunity for LG Display to establish a high-end distribution network within China’s domestic market. It is expected that if the customer base expands to include other Chinese brands, the growth rate of the IT OLED business will accelerate.
A South Korean industry insider remarked: “TCL’s choice to adopt Korean-made OLED panels instead of developing their own underscores that technological competitiveness in the high-end market still lies with Korean firms. This cooperation also opens new opportunities for Korean products to expand into the Chinese customer market.”
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1862811406768137/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone.