Samsung launches QLED TVs, aims to retain global leadership for 16th year

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest TV maker, has launched new flashy flagship TV models, with which the tech giant aims to retain its global TV leadership for the 16th straight year.

The South Korean electronics company on Mar. 3 unveiled its 2021 TV lineup, including new Mini LED TVs, dubbed the Neo QLED, and MicroLED TVs in various sizes.

The Mini LED offers a more effective, more efficient way of backlighting the LCD pixels of a TV screen. Quantum LED or QLED TVs use tiny LED chips that generally range from 100 to 200 micrometers in size for backlighting, providing better resolution and higher clarity.

Samsung’s Neo QLED replaces the hundreds of LED diodes used in traditional panels with thousands of much smaller equivalents -- up to 40 times smaller, according to the company.

The Neo QLED TV comes in 4K and a higher resolution 8K quality. The 8K lineup comes with five models in three screen sizes – 85, 75 and 65 inches, and the 4K lineup comes with nine models in five screen sizes – 85, 75, 65, 55 and 50 inches.

Samsung said the Neo QLED’s advanced image technology delivers brighter white tones and darker black tones, creating a striking visual contrast.

LARGE-SIZE TVs

During the new TV model launch event on Wednesday, Samsung also unveiled a new 110-inch MicroLED TV, which it showcased at this year’s CES expo in January.

MicroLED TV uses micrometer-sized LED chips as singular pixels that can also self-illuminate, providing clearer images.

Samsung said it plans to launch 99-inch MicroLED TVs in the first half and 88-inch models by year-end.

Samsung executives said the company will expand the proportion of large models with 85-inch and larger sizes to more than 50% of its total TV shipments this year.

“With innovative and consumer-oriented products, we plan to add new value to TVs,” said Han Jong-hui, president of Samsung’s virtual display business unit.

According to market researcher Omdia, Samsung was the world's leading TV vendor for the 15th straight year in 2020 with a market share of 31.9%.

Industry research firm TrendForce said global shipments of mini LED backlight TVs are projected to reach 4.4 million units in 2021, accounting for about 2% of the overall TV market.

Write to Su-Bin Lee at lsb@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.