SEOUL–Samsung said a 110-inch television that has four times the resolution of standard high-definition televisions is going on sale for about US$150,000 in South Korea.The launch Monday of the giant television set reflects global television makers' move toward ultra HD televisions, as manufacturing bigger televisions using OLED proves too costly.
Last year, Samsung and rival LG Electronics, the world's top two television makers, touted OLED as the future of television. OLED screens are ultrathin and can display images with enhanced clarity and deeper colour saturation.
But Samsung and LG failed to make OLED televisions a mainstream that would replace the LCD television sets and still struggling to mass produce larger and affordable televisions with OLED. Meanwhile, Japanese media reported last week that Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp decided to end their OLED partnership.
Demand for U-HD televisions is expected to rise despite dearth of content while its price will likely come down faster than that of the OLED televisions. Much of the growth is forecast to come from China, a major market for the South Korean television makers. Chinese television makers have been making a push into the U-HD television market as well.
According to NPD DisplaySearch, global sales of ultra-HD television sets will surge from 1.3 million this year to 23 million in 2017. More than half of the shipments will be taken by Chinese companies between 2013 and 2017, according to NPD.
While Chinese television makers have been seeking to boost sales of U-HD televisions with a lower price and a smaller size, Samsung's strategy is to go bigger with a higher price tag. Samsung's 110-inch U-HD television measures 2.6 metres by 1.8 metres. It will be available in China, the Middle East and Europe. In South Korea, the television is priced at 160 million won (US$152,000) while prices in other countries vary.
Samsung said it received ten orders for the latest televisions from the Middle East. Previously, the largest U-HD television made by Samsung was 85 inches measured diagonally.
AP