OLED vs. Mini LED: The battle intensifies, Chinese brands gain the upper hand

While Samsung strengthens its presence in the OLED TV market (White OLED and QD OLED technologies) with a market share increasing from 12% to 30% between the first quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2025, Chinese brands have chosen a different path: that of large-format Mini LED LCDs, which are more accessible and increasingly premium. Mini LED TVs: The Rise to Power; Long dominated by OLED, the super-premium TV segment (large, high-end TVs) experienced a dramatic shift starting in the second quarter of 2024. Consider this: • Mini LED LCD Shipments: +101% year-over-year; • Mini LED LCD Revenue: +66% year-over-year; • OLED Shipments: Stagnation • OLED Revenue: -7% Year-on-Year MiniLED TV Segment: A Reshuffling of the Cards Samsung, the world leader in Mini LED in 2021-2023, was overtaken in 2024 by TCL, followed by Hisense and Xiaomi. In the second quarter of 2025, the South Korean giant ranked fourth in volume and third in value. Chinese brands are leveraging their industrial expertise in LCD, avoiding the OLED war against LG and Samsung, and offering XXL Mini LED screens at prices their competitors cannot match. To clarify for Samsung, when considering the premium Mini LED and OLED TV segments, the Korean firm remains the leader in the premium TV market. Undoubtedly, Samsung's diversification strategy towards OLED, initiated four years ago, is now allowing the brand to better absorb the fierce competition from Chinese groups than others. A paradoxical situation indeed: while brands heavily reliant on OLED in the premium TV segment are currently struggling against Mini LED, it is precisely by turning to OLED that Samsung is holding its own. Premium TV market, restructuring underway. Mini LED televisions are increasingly appealing to consumers. For the same price as an OLED model, their screen sizes are significantly larger, offering a logically better price-to-performance ratio. Furthermore, the quality of the best Mini LED TVs, ever closer to that of OLED, is helping to convince many consumers. Larger screens at the same price, with image quality now capable of competing with OLED, Mini LED technology is establishing itself more than ever as a credible alternative to OLED. This trend will inevitably redefine the balance of the TV market in the coming months.