Samsung is one of the main manufacturers of OLED displays, and according to a Newsroom post from yesterday, it wants to push adoption of the technology even further this year. Aiming to increase shipments by 50% with new affordable models, the company could have a big impact on the OLED industry moving forward.
Samsung currently holds a big majority in the OLED market, achieving a 71% share of panels for monitors last year. It’s probably no exaggeration to say that wherever Samsung tries to take OLED is where OLED will go. The focus is on monitor panels right now, but once the tech starts to decrease in price, it should affect all types of OLED displays.
The first thing I thought of when I saw “more affordable OLED displays,” for example, was the OLED MacBook Air. Recent rumors have suggested an OLED display would push the price of Apple’s budget laptop too high, causing the company to delay the switch to OLED. If Samsung commits to bring prices down, however, this could pave the way for products like the OLED MacBook Air and plenty of others.
Samsung will release a 27-inch QHD monitor later this year and expects it to be a “game changer” in the premium monitor market. It then plans to enter the “mid-to-low price range” for gaming monitors. It’s not clear yet what a budget OLED monitor will look like but it should go a long way toward popularizing the tech and speeding up the transition from LCD.
It’s true that OLED monitors haven’t completely taken over the market yet but even people who don’t want to pay the premium price tag are excited about the tech, so it seems likely that people will jump at the chance to try out a more affordable version.
