What to expect from CES 2013

The world's largest consumer electronics show, CES, will take place next week in Las Vegas (January 8-11). CES always brings us interesting OLED announcements - new products, new technologies and new prototypes - and hopefully this year won't be different. CES 2012 was very exciting - LG and Samsung unveiled their 55" OLED TVs for the first time, getting rave reviews. OLED was actually the most twitted term at CES...

Samsung OLED TVs, CES 2012

We do expect both Samsung and LG to show their OLED TVs again at CES. LG already announced they will bring a new OLED TV model, promising better technology and design (the new panel now weighs just 3.5 Kg). Samsung hasn't said anything official yet, but they are expected to show the TVs again, maybe with a newer model as well. Hopefully this time the two Korean companies will announce pricing and launch plans.

LG OLED TV at CES 2012

LG and Samsung are clearly leading the way towards OLED TVs, but other companies are also developing the technology. Panasonic and Sony are collaborating on OLED TV technologies, with plans to start producing panels by 2014. Perhaps they will also unveil some prototypes. AU Optronics is already developing large OLED panels: the company unveiled a 32" OLED TV prototype back in November 2011, promising newer prototype samples by the end of 2012. Perhaps they'll have something for us at CES...

There are some persistent rumors that Samsung will also unveil two new small OLED panels during CES. The first one will be a 4.99" Full HD panel (1920x1080, 441 PPI), which Samsung will use in their upcoming flagship phone, the Galaxy S4. The second panel will be an updated plastic-based flexible panel: 5.5" 1,280x720 (267 ppi). Samsung is expected to start flexible OLED production in 2013. These are all rumors, I'm personally not sure if Samsung will actually be able to mass produce such large flexible OLEDs so soon.

Obviously we also expect to learn about new products that use OLED displays - mobile phones, tablets, cameras and maybe other devices, too. It's gonna be an exciting event, for sure!

Posted: Jan 01,2013 by Ron Mertens