LEDinside: South Korean Low Price LED TVs Garner Attention, 2012 to see LED TV Penetration Rate Exceed 70%

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Samsung is reported to stop production of CCFL LCD TV, which uses fluorescent lamp as the TV backlight, and will only manufacture LED TV. Since it entering the market in 2009, LED TV has been the high-end choice in the TV market, but its high cost prevents its popularity from further increasing. In a nod to it, Samsung will be actively pushing its direct-type LED TV in 2012 in the hope of increasing LED TV’s penetration rate.

Korean New LED TV Price  on Par With CCFL TV, LED Penetration Rate to Exceed 70% in 2012

The LED backlight module of Samsung’s new direct-type LED TV has become the same price as CCFL backlight module. In other words, after March 2012, there is almost no price gap between the low-cost direct-type LED TVs and the traditional LCD TVs, which will help boost LED TV’s penetration rate. Samsung will stop the production of CCFL LCD TV in South Korea while maintain a certain amount of CCFL production in other countries.

South Korean companies got a head start on developing LED TV in 2011 despite the murky market prospects. However, with the new LED TVs released in 2012 capable of fully replacing 42-inch and 32-inch CCFL TVs, the market landscape is expected to change.

According to the estimate of WitsView, the panel research division of TrendForce, 2012 will see the global LED TV penetration rate reach 71.4%.

Nonetheless, CCFL will still hold a certain amount of market. Some Chinese TV manufacturers released new CCFL LCD TV, albeit thicker, with lower prices, which will catch eye of price sensitive consumers. With a lower price compared to LED TV, the new CCFL TV will appeal to consumers who do not mind its thickness. Taiwanese panel and backlight module makers still manufacture both types, but low-price LED TV is expected to see rapid growth and become the mainstream choice in the market.

LED Module and LED Makers to Benefit from New LED Backlight Module

According to LEDinside, the LED research division of TrendForce, South Korean makers have implemented low-price direct-type LED backlight module to cut cost, which results in a different requirement on local dimming technology and brightness compared to high-end direct type module. The newly designed backlight module with a lens costs three times more than 5630 package. But due to the fact that it does not require a light guide plate, the total direct-type LED backlight module’s cost can be further reduced by 15%. However, this new LED specifications are yet to be unified, and every company approaches it differently. For instance, Samsung adopts the 3228 package, which is  smaller than that of 3528 package, while LG uses the 3528 package for its low-price direct-type LED TV.

As for the edge-type LED TVs, the current mainstream choice in the LED TV market, launched in 2012, 5630 and 7030 account for about 50%, respectively.

 

By Lowy Chang