LG, Samsung face off in growing portable TV market
Global tech giants LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are ramping up innovation to capture a growing demand for portable TVs.
LG, which pioneered the category with its StanbyME series, now faces a challenge from Samsung's official entry into the segment. Adding further pressure, Chinese rivals are also making inroads with new wireless models.
LG and Samsung are pursuing contrasting strategies to dominate the market, according to industry sources. LG is leading with user-centric innovations such as full wireless connectivity, touchscreen control and detachable functionality, while Samsung is betting on artificial intelligence-driven personalization, high-end display quality and modular design.
LG launched the world's first wireless mobile TV, StandbyMe, in 2021. Its successor, StandbyMe 2, continues to enjoy strong demand — the initial batch of 1,000 units sold out in just 38 minutes during its first live-stream sales event in February. Building on this momentum, the home appliances maker has recently unveiled the Smart Monitor Swing, expanding its product lineup.
The Swing model features a flexible monitor arm that allows users to adjust the screen tilt and orientation and includes a wheeled stand for easy movement across home and office spaces. It also supports touch functionality, reinforcing LG's strategy to cement its leadership in the mobile display market by diversifying into monitors.
Samsung, a relative latecomer, has entered the race with its Moving Style brand. This lineup combines the tech giant's smart monitors with mobile stands and is available with various screen specs including Neo QLED, OLED, QLED and UHD — all under 55 inches. The company promotes a customizable approach, allowing users to select resolution, size, color and stand type.
According to Samsung, over 80 percent of its smart monitor sales in the fourth quarter last year were from the Moving Style series, underscoring the strong consumer response. Earlier this month, Samsung added OLED options to the Moving Style series, aiming to differentiate itself from LG's LCD-based StanbyME models.
Affordability is another key element in Samsung's strategy. Its 27-inch Moving Style 2024 model is priced at around 400,000 won ($286), roughly one-third the price of LG's StanbyME 2, which retails at 1.29 million won. However, the OLED version of the Moving Style costs 1.8 million won, reflecting the premium panel's higher cost.
One limitation, however, is that Samsung's Moving Style models still require a power outlet, making them less mobile than LG's battery-powered alternatives. Lim Sung-taek, head of Korea sales and marketing at Samsung Electronics, said in a press briefing in March that a 'fully wireless version is in development,' hinting at a more confrontation with LG.
Chinese manufacturers are also entering the scene. TCL unveiled its A300W frame-style TV in November last year and followed up with a wheeled model at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. Hisense, another major Chinese player, upgraded its Canvas TV lineup with mobile stands to compete in the segment.
Industry sources say the appeal of mobile TVs lies in their versatility for younger consumers, such as single households and newlyweds, who seek flexible content consumption anywhere in their living space. Wireless connectivity and mobility are no longer seen as mere features but as transformative factors in viewing behavior.
'The market is now clearly centered on wireless and portable features,' said an industry source, who requested anonymity. 'LG and Samsung are setting the pace, but Chinese TV makers are adding new momentum. Going forward, we can expect intensified competition focused on advanced functions and personalized user experiences.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
Can LG break into AI chips game with hybrid bonder?
Tech giant bets on in-house expertise to take on rivals, but faces uncertain demand and scalability hurdles LG Electronics is eyeing a bold expansion in its semiconductor equipment operations, developing critical machinery for manufacturing the high-bandwidth memory chips that power AI innovation. The South Korean tech giant said it has kicked off development of a hybrid bonder at its in-house R&D unit, the Production Engineering Research Institute. A hybrid bonder is a kind of chip packaging machine, and LG wants to develop one for use in the HBM chips used in AI. The confirmation comes after a recent media report that LG aims to commercialize the equipment by 2028. An LG spokesperson, however, said that while it is currently conducting technical research on hybrid bonders for HBM, the timeline for mass production remains undecided. For LG, semiconductors are a sensitive topic. The company's chip aspirations suffered a devastating blow during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when government-mandated restructuring stripped away its chipmaking business, LG Semicon, and merged it into Hyundai Electronics, which later became SK hynix. But LG kept the flame alive, holding onto crucial design capabilities and continuing to develop custom chips for its own products. The company has also partnered with Canada-based AI chip design company Tenstorrent to develop AI chips together. Its Production Engineering Research Institute also sells packaging and testing equipment and has conducted research on HBM technologies. This time, LG appears to be seeking a new growth engine by entering the red-hot AI chips sector, in line with LG Group Chair Koo Kwang-mo's AI vision. Observers say that because the hybrid bonder market is still in its early stages, LG could gain an edge if it succeeds in developing it. 'LG is entering the market because there's clear business potential,' said Lee Jong-hwan, a system semiconductor engineering professor at Sangmyung University. 'HBM is expected to see continued growth because it is a critical component in AI chips, which are becoming dominant in the market.' Lee noted that the Production Engineering Research Institute has long handled equipment and systems related to mass production. 'So they have strengths in developing related tools. That's why they are confident in commercializing this technology,' Lee said Why hybrid bonders matter HBM chips — used in AI accelerators like Nvidia's GPUs — are built by stacking multiple DRAM chips vertically, like a high-rise tower, allowing rapid and efficient data transfer. The key to their performance hinges on how precisely and securely these memory chips are bonded together. That's where advanced packaging tools like the hybrid bonder and the widely-used thermocompression bonder, or TC bonder, come in. These machines physically connect the chips to form a single, high-performance memory unit. The hybrid bonder LG is developing promises a significant advancement over conventional TC bonders. TC bonding uses heat and pressure to attach the semiconductor chips, relying on microscopic bumps to connect the stacked dies. In contrast, hybrid bonding eliminates the bumps entirely and enables direct chip-to-chip connections. This allows for thinner chip stacks, improved thermal performance and higher stacking capability, ultimately enabling the high-performance packaging needed for cutting-edge AI chips. Only a few global companies, such as Netherlands-based Besi and US-based Applied Materials, have developed hybrid bonders, and even those have yet to be commercialized for HBM. If LG succeeds, it could carve out a lucrative niche in a fast-growing market. The global hybrid bonding equipment market is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2024 to $3.2 billion by 2033, according to market research firm Verified Market Research. 'Hybrid bonding has a clear advantage,' said Lee. 'AI chips require higher data throughput as models become more complex and training workload increases. This leads to significant heat generation, and hybrid bonding offers a structural advantage in managing thermal issues.' 'But mass production capability will be critical, and once those manufacturing challenges are addressed, hybrid bonding will be more favorable for future HBMs.' Heated competition Samsung and SK hynix, the world's two largest memory chip makers, are mulling the use of hybrid bonding in their next-generation HBM products, such as HBM4E. As the number of DRAM layers in HBM increases to 16 or even 20, the use of TC bonding is expected to reach its limits. With the major HBM players eyeing the hybrid bonding technology, the equipment market will hinge on who can mass produce reliable and scalable equipment the fastest. Major equipment makers are entering the fray. Hanmi Semiconductor, the market leader in TC bonders, which supplies HBM leaders SK hynix and Micron, announced Friday that it will invest 100 billion won ($72.67 million) in hybrid bonding technology, with plans to release a hybrid bonder by the end of 2027. The company is constructing a hybrid bonder factory in Incheon, with the goal of completion in the second half of next year. Hanwha Semitech, which also supplies TC bonders to SK Hynix, is also ramping up efforts to develop hybrid bonding equipment. Then there's Applied Materials, which in April became the largest shareholder of Besi, a move expected to accelerate the development of hybrid bonding technology. Semes, the semiconductor equipment subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, is also reportedly developing a hybrid bonder that could be used for Samsung's HBM. "Since B2B equipment production and supply depend on customer demand, actual rollouts will be determined by market response and client needs," said an industry official on condition of anonymity. "Currently SK hynix gets its TC bonder from Hanmi Semiconductor and Hanwha Semitech, while Micron also sources from Hanmi. If Samsung decides to use tools from Semes, the key for LG is to make a marketable product and secure customers." sahn@
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
S. Korea, China FMs agree to make upcoming APEC summit 'new turning point' in ties
The top diplomats of South Korea and China agreed Monday to work together to make the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit a "new turning point" in bilateral relations, as they held their first telephone call, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed this view during the 45-minute phone conversation, reaffirming their commitment to advance the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership in a "steady and mature" manner, the ministry said in a release. "They agreed to work together to ensure that the upcoming APEC summit in Gyeongju serves as a new turning point in bilateral ties and to deliver tangible outcomes in practical cooperation that can be felt by the peoples of both countries," it said. They also agreed to maintain the positive momentum in bilateral ties through high-level exchanges. The APEC summit is set to take place in the southeastern South Korean city from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. Chinese President Xi Jinping is widely expected to attend the multilateral meeting. China is the host for next year's APEC summit. Congratulating Cho on his inauguration, Wang expressed a willingness to maintain a close working relationship with him, according to the ministry. Cho, in turn, said he hopes to closely work with Wang to further develop the Seoul-Beijing ties. Cho took office last Monday. He also extended an invitation for Wang to visit South Korea, and Wang responded that he would visit at a mutually convenient time, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Seoul shares up for 4th day on Samsung gains amid US tariff caution
South Korean stocks finished higher Monday, led by strong gains by tech giant Samsung Electronics amid caution over last-minute negotiations with the United States on its aggressive tariff scheme. The local currency fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 13.47 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 3,209.52, extending its winning streak to a fourth day. Trade volume was heavy at 500.22 million shares worth 13.83 trillion won ($10.01 billion), with losers beating winners 722 to 179. Institutional and foreign investors bought a net 452.01 billion won and 480.78 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while individuals net sold 998 billion won worth of shares. The index opened higher but moved within a narrow range throughout the session before ending with modest gains, as investors remained cautious ahead of key developments in negotiations between Seoul and Washington over the Donald Trump administration's tariff measures, with just four days remaining until the Aug. 1 deadline. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan has departed for Europe to continue trade negotiations with the U.S., while Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol is scheduled to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday. "With corporate second-quarter earnings being released, now is the time to heighten caution over increased short-term volatility," said Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics spiked 6.83 percent to 70,400 won on news that it has signed a contract worth over US$16.5 billion won to supply semiconductors to U.S. tech giant Tesla. But chip giant SK hynix lost 1.5 percent to 262,000 won. Major battery maker LG Energy Solution surged 4.68 percent to 380,500 won, and top chemical firm LG Chemical advanced 1.95 percent to 313,000 won. Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace climbed 0.85 percent to 953,000 won. Carmakers gathered ground. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor increased 0.92 percent to 218,500 won, and its sister Kia Motors gained 1.34 percent to 105,500 won. But top financial firm KB Financial dipped 6.99 percent to 110,500 won, and nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility shed 3.64 percent to 63,500 won. Shipbuilders gathered ground on hopes for stronger cooperation with the U.S. Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy soared 4.5 percent to 464,500 won, and its rival Hanwha Ocean jumped 8.44 percent to 97,600 won. The local currency was quoted at 1,382 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 4.1 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
