Samsung Electronics is set to forgo competition with Chinese corporations in the entry-level lineup of RGB LED TVs, which have emerged as the fiercest battleground in the TV market this year and next, and instead respond with a premium TV lineup. The reason is that there is no suitable product range to counter Chinese-made RGB mini LED TVs.
Samsung Electronics plans to build a premium TV lineup with RGB micro LED TVs, which are a step higher in specification than RGB mini LED. However, as RGB mini LED TVs showcased by Japan's Sony and Chinese corporations at IFA 2025, Europe's largest home appliance exhibition that closed on the 9th (local time) in Berlin, Germany, received better-than-expected reviews, there are concerns that Samsung Electronics' strategy to move upmarket with RGB LED TVs could be undermined.
According to the industry on the 17th, Yong Seok-woo, head of the Visual Display (VD) Business at Samsung Electronics, recently said at IFA 2025 about strategies to respond to the flood of RGB mini LED TVs from Chinese TV corporations, "We do not plan to go head-to-head by releasing RGB mini LED TVs," and added, "RGB LED TVs will maintain an upmarket strategy as a high-end lineup by diversifying the inch sizes."
An RGB LED TV is based on the existing LCD TV structure that applies a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filters. It is a "non-self-emissive" product that requires an external light source, and it differs from conventional mini LED-LCD TVs that apply a white LED backlight in that it uses RGB light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the backlight unit (BLU). Using RGB LEDs for the backlight can increase color reproduction and contrast compared with using white LEDs.
RGB LED TVs are divided into high-end micro LED and lower-priced mini LED depending on the size and integration density of the LED elements. In the case of Samsung Electronics, it has chosen a high-end strategy with micro LED instead of mini LED, while Chinese corporations are releasing RGB mini LED TVs based on mini LED and expanding their reach from entry-level to the entire premium market.
Samsung Electronics' RGB micro LED TVs command the highest prices among Samsung's TV lineup. In August, Samsung Electronics released a 115-inch RGB micro LED TV priced at about 44.9 million won. It is slated to launch in the United States soon, followed by sequential sales in major global markets. After that, the company will roll out products in various sizes, including 75-inch, 85-inch, and 98-inch models.
The variable is that the picture quality and performance of RGB mini LED TVs, which Samsung Electronics has given up competing against, are receiving rave reviews beyond expectations. Despite being LCD TVs, the performance of RGB mini LED TVs that Sony exhibited to clients and some European outlets at IFA 2025 is being assessed as having nearly caught up with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, which are classified as the top performers in the existing TV market. Because they are based on mini LED, their factory prices also appear likely to be set lower than those of premium products.
The RGB LED TV product showcased by Sony reaches a peak brightness of about 4,000 nits, boosting performance over conventional mini LED TVs, and analysts say its color rendering has been significantly improved. The U.K. IT outlet Stuff said, "Blooming in dark scenes is far more reduced than on existing mini LED, and it delivers remarkably deep blacks," adding that it is "close to OLED TVs."
Another U.K. IT outlet, TechRadar, also judged that Sony's product showed clear improvements over mini LED in rendering black—an endemic weakness of LCD-based TVs—and that its overall contrast ratio was impressive. A Sony official explained, "This product demo proved that RGB mini LED TVs can overcome most of the weaknesses of existing mini LED TVs and deliver picture quality comparable to premium-grade TVs."
In the industry, there are concerns that if Samsung Electronics overlooks the fact that Chinese and Japanese competitors are steadily improving the picture quality of RGB mini LED TVs, it will end up losing competitiveness not only in the entry-level market but also in the premium segment. If RGB micro LED TVs, despite being four to five times more expensive than RGB mini LED TVs, fail to show clear differentiation, there is a high possibility that not only the mid- to low-end TV market but also the high-end TV market will be encroached upon.