Samsung has spent years making QLED one of the most recognizable names in the TV aisle. But if a new report is accurate, the company could be preparing for a future where that familiar label becomes a much smaller part of its lineup and eventually disappears altogether.
According to a report from Electronic Times, Samsung has dramatically reduced production of its quantum dot-based LCD TVs. The company produced around 10 million QLED TVs in 2025, but that figure is expected to fall to just 2 million to 3 million units this year — a drop of as much as 80%. That doesn’t mean your QLED TV is obsolete, of course. Instead, this appears to be a much bigger rethink of what Samsung wants its TV lineup to look like over the next few years.
QLED is getting squeezed from both ends
Part of the problem is that QLED isn’t the differentiator it once was. Chinese manufacturers such as TCL and Hisense have made quantum dot TVs available at increasingly aggressive prices, making it harder for Samsung to compete at the cheaper end of the market.
Samsung’s answer appears to be Mini LED. The company introduced a dedicated Mini LED range in 2026, including more affordable models below its premium offerings. In India, for example, Samsung’s Mini LED lineup currently starts at Rs. 42,990, while the company still sells Neo QLED models higher up the range. The important distinction is that Samsung’s new entry-level Mini LED models don’t rely on the same quantum dot layer that has defined its QLED branding. And the changes may not stop with Samsung’s cheaper TVs.
Samsung already has its QLED replacement waiting
Samsung is reportedly planning to shrink its Neo QLED lineup further in 2027 and could gradually phase it out as early as 2028. Neo QLED combines quantum dots with Mini LED backlighting, so its disappearance would be a much bigger departure from Samsung’s current TV strategy. The company has already given us a pretty good idea of what could replace it. Samsung has been investing heavily in Micro RGB, which uses microscopic red, green, and blue LEDs for its backlight instead of relying on a conventional LED backlight and quantum dot layer. Its 2026 Micro RGB range now stretches from 55 inches to 115 inches, and Samsung also showed off a massive 130-inch model at CES.
OLED isn’t going anywhere either. Samsung’s own 2026 strategy explicitly places Micro RGB and OLED at the premium end, with Mini LED serving as the more accessible option. If the reported roadmap holds, Samsung’s TV shelves could look very different within a couple of years: Mini LED at the affordable end, OLED and Micro RGB at the top, and QLED, once one of Samsung’s biggest TV selling points, squeezed out in between.
