Many were waiting for the announcement of the new 48-inch 4K OLED televisions. Want for the smaller size and suitable for different viewing environments, or for a lower cost, the new cut created by LG has the potential to expand the OLED market share compared to the LCD one.
In the end, both LG and Sony announced their arrival later in the year, but an important detail suggests that their price may be higher than expected. The reason is simple: neither brand created an entry-level 48-inch model.
Matter of range
LG has four OLED models in the price list, each declined in various sizes. At the base of the offer we find the "B" range, called this year "BX". Then we find the "C" range, renamed for the TVs arriving in "CX", and then we have the "GX" and "ZX". Sony instead has two types of OLED on the market; over the years the numbers "8" have been maintained for the entry level, called this year "A8", and "9" for the top of the range.
From the basic models to the more advanced ones, the image processor, the audio sector and the finishes usually make the difference, but the price can become decidedly higher, depending on the specific cases. It is no coincidence therefore that LG we placed its 48-inch in the CX range, the one just above the entry level, and Sony instead called its "A9" variant, as its top of the range.
In fact, the new 48-inch OLEDs are not considered entry levels, with all the consequences of the case on the final price. So far both LG and Sony have not released the prices of 48-inch OLEDs but judging by the range in which they are inserted it is possible that the much hoped for price drop for this technology will be less steep than expected.
The reasons that led LG and Sony not to create an entry-level 48-inch OLED are different. Firstly, the cost, thanks to the offers, could have gone too low, even below € 900. It should also be considered that, coming to similar figures, a TV of this type could have engulfed the LCD lines, much less qualitative in this price range but still capable of making large sales volumes today.
In short, the failure to insert the 48-inch cut in the less expensive OLED series seems to indicate one clear commercial strategy, aimed at not bringing down the prices of this technology too much. We cannot be sure of course, only in the course of 2020 can we really understand how far the cost of OLED TVs can go down.