In the early 2010s, OLED was a joke. Too fragile, too expensive, and impossible to scale. Everyone dropped it except LG.
Fast forward to today, and LG owns over half the global OLED market. They even make panels for Samsung and Sony. So what did LG see that everyone else missed?
Back in the 2000s, the TV world was all Plasma and LCD. Plasma had the best picture but came with heat, power, and burn-in issues. LCDs were cheap, efficient, and “good enough.” While everyone chased scale, LG doubled down on quality. They bought Kodak’s OLED patents, poured billions into R&D, and invented WRGB OLED to cut costs.
For years, it looked like financial suicide. But when Netflix, gaming, and home theaters exploded, OLED became the gold standard. By 2016, LG had perfected manufacturing, and by 2017, the C7 OLED changed everything.
Competitors mocked OLED, then bought LG panels anyway. Now, LG Display supplies Samsung, Sony, and nearly every major brand. The bet no one believed in became the tech no one could live without.