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According to reports, LG has flatly denied a report claiming that it plans to sell its TV business to China's Hisense, much as Sony recently sold its own TV division to TCL.
The original report was posted on South Korean website EBN and titled, "LG Electronics to shut down its 'problematic' TV business? Discusses sale with China's Hisense." The story has since been taken down, while reports of a denial by LG of the entire story have emerged.
However, at this stage, it does not seem that LG has made an official statement of its own or spoken with a major news outlet. So, what to make of this mess?
First, the part of LG that sells TVs is quite separate from that which produces display panels, such as LCD or OLED panels. So, any purported sale of its TV business would not directly impact LG's WOLED tech as used in PC gaming monitors.
Speaking of which, LG's PC monitor division is part of the same overall group as the TV business, but so are a lot of other digital product types, such as laptops, and it's unlikely the deal with Hisense would include all that. So, even if it's true, it probably only applies to TVs.
But what's arguably more interesting is what this all says about the TV and broader display panel market. The original, now removed, EBN report pointed out that China-based TCL already owns 14% of the TV market in 2025, with Hisense close behind on 12.5%.
Others have noted that TCL, Hisense and Xiaomi together now have more TV market share than LG and Samsung combined, with the broader narrative that the arrival of the Chinese is squeezing margins heavily. Certainly, LG Electronics, which makes TVs, has been struggling of late, reporting a net loss for the last quarter of 2025.
Exactly what the implications are of any of this for PC monitors and, indeed, the LCD and increasingly OLED panels that go into them is complicated.
Arguably, China has already won when it comes to manufacturing LCD panels. LG sold its last LCD panel factory to TCL about a year ago, and China now reportedly owns over 70% of the LCD panel manufacturing market.
So, ironically, LG and Samsung's LCD TVs now largely use Chinese rather than South Korean-made panels. For now, LG and Samsung still dominate in the large form factor OLED panel segment as used for TVs and monitors, as opposed to smaller OLEDs for smartphones.
However, TCL's panel-making subsidiary, CSOT, has revealed plans to make its own inkjet-printed RGB-OLED panels with a view to taking on LG and Samsung. The good news is that it should mean plenty of competition.
OLED monitors have been getting steadily cheaper, with the Alienware AW2726DM recently launching for just $350. Presumably, competition from China would make OLED monitors even cheaper. Monitors are already pretty much the most interesting part of the PC hardware market right now, what with chip prices spiralling.
Of course, "cheap" isn't the only concern. OLED technology has been improving fast of late. We've seen some impressive new QD-OLED panels from Samsung this year, and the company has just announced a yet better QD-OLED panel that's due to go into production later in 2026.
Put another way, LG and Samsung are both at the cutting edge of OLED innovation right now, and it's not clear a price war would encourage further innovation as opposed to a race to the bottom. I guess we'll just have to watch this space.
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