[Courtesy of Samsung]
A strategic campaign launched by Samsung Electronics to diss its domestic rival LG Electronics in the world's next-generation high definition TV market has backfired on the world's largest smartphone and computer chip maker.
Some experts and consumers accused the tech giant of being paradoxical and reckless in a desperate attempt to promote QLED, Samsung's brand name for its new quantum dot display TV which made its debut this year.
For months, Samsung has embarked on aggressive marketing to differentiate itself from other rivals such as LG and Sony which mainly sell OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs. QLED uses quantum-dot technology for high-end liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
Samsung's dis campaign became conspicuous this week, claiming through the Korean version of its online news blog "Samsung Newsroom" that QLED displays show no "Burn-in" syndrome, referring to afterimages which are literally branded onto OLED panels when stationary images are continuously displayed for a long time.
Samsung argued that QLED displays, which consist of sandwich panels of LED backlight, LCD cells and quantum dot displays, are far superior to OLED TVs.
"QLED displays are suited for TVs and computer monitors," Samsung said, adding display devices used for a long time at home and workplaces are prone to burn-in. "This is why OLED panels are not used in gaming monitors."
The tech giant stressed that QLED panels would maintain its color reproduction range for a long time because it's made with inorganic materials while OLED displays made with organic materials lose brightness.
Samsung's blog post followed a controversial YouTube video which was released in August and compared its QLED TV to an LG OLED TV in a 12-hour stress test in a clear attempt to highlight burn-in.
"While LG and Sony took up a more than 30 percent share in the global premium TV market, Samsung took only about 10 percent," an IT columnist nicknamed "D2" wrote on his blog, speculating Samsung must have felt a sense of crisis due to a gap in its market share.
According to data from Solid State Technology, a U.S.-based analyst company, quantum dot TVs are expected to account for four percent of global LCD TV shipments in 2017. Samsung dominates the quantum dot market with 90 percent in the first quarter of this year.
"The global shipments of TVs fitted with OLED panels in the second quarter of 2017 have increased by about 200 percent compared to the same period last year," Pingguyanalja, an online IT columnist, wrote on his blog quoting research data released by IHS, a marketing researcher.
Meanwhile, LG's OLED TV was chosen as a top product by many prestigious consumer media groups in 11 countries including the United States and Australia, suggesting OLED TVs are the mainstream in the TV market, the columnist said.
Samsung's comparison YouTube video drew a barrage of criticism from global users. "Samsung uses OLED panels for all of their smartphone models! LOL Come on, everyone knows OLED is better than LCD TV. QLED is just another LCD TV with another fancy name. " wrote Ryan Lee, a YouTuber.
Another YouTuber, "ware VM", said: "Samsung's QLED is actually just applying Quantum dot to LCD panels. And Samsung has mostly OLED panels in its phones. In the end, this ad is only going to cut itself off in the end. "
Samsung posted an operating profit of 700 billion won (620 million US dollars) in its consumer electronics division while LG reported an operating profit of 720 billion won in its TV business alone.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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