Skyworth betting big on OLED TVs

Chinese television maker Skyworth launches its latest TV sets — S81 Pro OLED TVs — on Wednesday in Shenzhen. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese television maker Skyworth is betting big on the OLED TVs, and ramping up its research and development inputs in the superfast 5G and artificial intelligence to seek new business growth points, despite the slowdown in the domestic TV sector.

Tang Xiaoliang, chief brand officer of the Shenzhen Skyworth-RGB Electronic Co Ltd, which is a subsidiary of the Skyworth, said the company is bullish on the prospects of the OLED TV industry and has focused on the R&D of AI-powered 8K chips that improve the image quality.

Tang said the sales of its OLED TVs amounted to 11,181 units in June, accounting for 68.92 percent of the total market share.

Skyworth is transforming itself into a high-tech and innovation-driven company, having invested heavily in OLED technology, self-developed chips that are used to improve the quality of the image, and the big-screen AIoT (artificial intelligence of things ) ecosystem, Tang said.

The company has also launched its latest flagship TV sets — S81 Pro OLED TVs, which cover 55-inch and 65-inch versions, and deliver immersive sound for the ultimate home cinema experience.

OLED is a relatively new technology and part of the recent innovations in display. It has a fast response rate, wide viewing angles, super high-contrast images and richer colors. It is much thinner and can be made flexible, compared with traditional LCD display panels.

According to market consultancy All View Cloud, TV sales reached 20.87 million units nationwide in the first half of 2020, down 9.2 percent compared with same period last year, and related sales revenue totaled 50.6 billion yuan, a fall decline of 23.7 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the accumulative sales of OLED TVs units came up toreached 47,000 units in the January-May period, with Skyworth topping the list in OLED TV shipments in the domestic market, according to AVC. Market The market research firm IHS Markit said the shipments of OLED TVs areis expected to reach 3.5 million units in 2020.

The OLED TVs will become the future development direction of the TV industry and present an opportunity for TV manufacturers to expand their profit margins, said AVC President Wen Jianping.

Skyworth has been producing OLED TVs in partnership with South Korea’s largest panel maker LG Display, since 2013.