We love Micro LED TVs here at TechRadar, but their price tags, not so much. The new 89-inch Micro LED from Samsung costs as much as a small house, and rival TVs aren't much cheaper. The good news is that more affordable Micro LED TVs are coming. All you need to do is channel your inner Rip Van Winkle or Sleeping Beauty and go to bed for, ooh, about four years.
That's not quite how industry analysts Omdia put it, as reported by Business Korea. They merely say that based on current trends, the cost of Micro LED panels will plummet to around one-quarter of their current prices by 2027. But it's clear that we'll need to wait a little longer before Micro LED becomes an affordable option for most of us.
With Micro LED TVs, the price isn't right
As with any new tech, early adopters pay more – and with display technology that's particularly true, because it takes quite a while for manufacturing to deliver consistent quality, acceptable yields and the economies of scale that start putting prices down.
For context, it took roughly 10 years for OLED to become the most popular name in TV technology and consequently come down to more affordable prices. With that in mind, if Micro LED can get its prices down in the next four to five years, then it's on an even more fast-tracked pace.
According to a report from Omdia, as seen by Business Korea, the price for mid-sized Micro LED panels – that's 10.1- to 14.6 inches – is currently between $5,800 and $10,000 per panel. That's expected to drop to around $1,200 for the smallest sizes by 2027.
That's the good news. However, the larger panels required for really big TVs are likely to stay expensive. For instance, 14.6-inches is fine for a PC or a tablet and 10.1-inches is a good fit for a Tesla, but it's hardly on the same scale as the ultra-premium 76-, 101- and 114-inch TVs Samsung is promising for later this year.
And even at a quarter of the price, those TVs are still going to be frighteningly expensive. Samsung's 110-inch Micro LED TV, previously called The Wall, had a sticker price of $140,000. If you want a big Micro LED TV, you'd better start saving.
