Samsung rolls out $13,000 curved 55-inch OLED TV

James Delahunty
27 Jun 2013 6:17

As expected, Samsung has rolled out its curved 55-inch OLED TV in South Korea, jumping into a niche market after rival LG Electronics.
While it is great to see organic light-emitting diode TVs on the market, Samsung has warned that industry forecasts might be a bit optimistic. DisplaySearch had forecast that over 50,000 OLED TVs will be sold this year, rising to 600,000 in 2014 and up to 7 million in 2016.
However, LG has had a 55-inch curved OLED (and an non-curved OLED) on the market since January and is estimated to have only sold a few hundred so far.
OLED screens consist of thousands of self-emitting diodes, providing brighter and better quality pictures while consuming less powered than a comparably sized LCD screen with a backlight. Production is more complex than LCD panels however, meaning that for the moment they must remain toys for high-end consumers.

"We are proud to be able to deliver on our promise of bringing our Curved OLED TV to the market," said Hyunsun Kim, Executive Vice President, Samsung Visual Display, Samsung Electronics.
"With this product, we're able to offer consumers an immersive viewing experience and flawless picture quality. The Curbed OLED TV is a ground-breaking, future-proof product that pioneers a new era of TV viewing."
Samsung Curved OLED TV is now available in Korea at major outlets retailing for KRW 15 million.