The first to roll was, in recent days, the head of Jo Seong-Jin, CEO of LG Electronics since 2016, replaced by Kwon Bong-Seok (battle name Brian Kwon, a tough guy), victim of one of the economic battles bloodier, that ofConsumer electronics (over a trillion euros the value of the world market according to GFK). A market in which since 2018 the two leaders, the Korean chaebols LG and Samsung, they are waging an all-out war. In September, at the IFA in Berlin, Samsung had opened hostilities accusing LG of industrial espionage and subtraction of 18 technologies related to OLED technology. LG had responded with one complaint for the violation of 7 patents always on the OLED. Real bone of contention: which 4 and 8K TV technology is better?
For Samsung it is his, the QLed and for LG his, the Oled. But they are not comparable, as many experts have pointed out, nor competitive because QLED is an improvement with a processor and quantum filters of LCD technology while LG's OLED is, with its organic electroluminescent diodes, something completely different. And according to authoritative sources, including Forbes, Digital trendsChip De, CNET, Tech Radar, the one that gives exceptional quality, never achieved before even if only on large sizes. The video quality of 4K Ultra HD TVs, which have 4 times more pixels than Full HD 1080p, is not perceptible on small and medium-sized screens since they are captured on those up to 55 inches. But not on the bigger ones where 8K expresses the maximum obtainable today.
Real 8K, the real 8K- In September, at the IFA in Berlin, Samsung and LG had exchanged heavy criticisms of each other's performances but the controversy has become increasingly bitter with a very recent "hit" by LG, truly masterful: the registration of the "Real 8K" logo for Europe, United States and Canada. And with the consequent prohibition for any other company to use the prestigious definition that will be seen in practice at the next CES in Las Vegas in January only on LG TVs. A deadly blow that is certainly worth several million more devices to sell (when there will be). The only common limit: the contents are very few.
LG at La Scala- On September 24th, the two giants had jointly announced that they would cease the 8K war but no one had believed it and in fact on November 20th Samsung reopened the fire claiming the invalidation of the 7 patents of which LG had in September, complaining the infringement by part of Samsung. It should be emphasized again, however, that the economic and financial interests at stake are gigantic. It's not just a question of controlling the current sales of 8K OLED TVs (just 167 thousand units), but of the current 4K sales (where Samsung wins) and the much richer sales of the next few years, when the 8K TV revolution will dismantle the entire fleet -TV thus bringing huge profits into the producers' coffers. But it will be - laments Korea BizWire - slow progress, very slow, because 8K only works on mega screens starting from 75/80 inches which cost and will cost much more than the others. The 4K technology itself has not yet expressed its potential as it represents 114 percent of the total with its 52 million TVs sold.
At the end of 2019, Samsung and its partners (Hisense, TCL and OnePlus) are expected to have sold 5,45 million Qled 4K TVs and LG with Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Loewe and others, are not expected to exceed 3 million units by much. In fact, only LG manufactures the gigantic panels (from 75/80 inches up) and makes only a few (2,9 million), and just to meet the demand of its partners, it has recently inaugurated a factory in China, in Guangzhou , which will churn out about 6 million a year but from 2021 while in the meantime it will leave a large space on world markets for its competitor. The last -for now- episode of this hi-tech soap opera will take place between the muffled walls of La Scala in Milan, on December 12, for the Italian preview of the presentation of LG Signature Oled TV8K, the first in the world. And at the same time, the controversy is spreading to air conditioners and household appliances because Samsung has expressed doubts about the performance of the competitor's appliances, while Zeroclick cited Samsung's Galaxy S10 Plus and LG's V30 as the first examples of infringement of one of its patents . And Zeroclick has not been left alone because hundreds of complaints are engaging the consumer electronics giants in annoying lawsuits, all linked to alleged infringements of other people's patents. In the meantime, consumers among so many pixels, Ks, Leds and Oleds are beginning to have enormous doubts and the market, when it is not known which technology will win, can freeze as is already happening in Italy.
