The market for TVs mounted on a rollable stand has emerged as a new battleground between South Korea’s top two TV brands, LG and Samsung, four years after LG Electronics Inc. rolled out the first of its kind, which immediately sold out upon its debut.
Samsung Electronics Co. recently released a new lineup of wheeled TVs, dubbed the Moving Style, with options of different display types – liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light-emitting diode (OLED), quantum-dot LED (QLED) and ultra-high definition (UHD) – in various sizes up to 55 inches.
In a move to fend off Samsung’s challenge, LG Electronics, the pioneer of the rollable TV market, launched a new generation of the StandbyME, its flagship 27-inch battery-powered touchscreen TV on a wheeled pedestal base, in February.
This marked the first major upgrade to its wheeled TV since the original StandbyME hit the market in 2021.
LG StandbyME 2 (Courtesy of LG) Korea’s two TV giants are betting big on the rollable screen market as its demand has surged among single-person households and younger generations in their 20s and 30s.
More families also opt for wheeled TVs as their second home TVs.
According to data from the companies, the rollable smart touch TV market has rapidly expanded, with LG’s StandbyME selling about 19,000 units per month on average in 2024 versus 8,000 units in 2023.
Samsung’s Moving Style sales accounted for about 80% of its entire smart monitor sales in the fourth quarter of 2024 after its sales more than quintupled from the previous year.
(Graphics by Daeun Lee) But it is a follower in the rollable TV market, having joined the scene a few years after its crosstown rival LG made waves with the industry’s first wheeled TVs.
Despite its late entry, it pins high hopes on the Moving Style lineup, which offers a wider range of display configurations and sizes. LG’s rollable TVs come in one size and one display type, a 27-inch LCD screen.
Priced significantly lower than LG’s models, Samsung’s LCD variant also costs nearly half as much.
In late April, Samsung unveiled the latest version of The Premiere 5, a full HD projector featuring the industry’s first touch interaction capability, aiming to capture a share of the rollable TV market.
But Samsung models are not yet fully portable, as they still require a power cable, unlike LG’s battery-powered alternatives.
Samsung Moving Style with OLED screens (Courtesy of Samsung) LG’s new generation, the StandbyME 2, can operate for up to four hours on its built-in battery. Its users can also detach the monitor from its stylish stand to use it like a tablet PC, thanks to its touchscreen functionality.
For even greater portability, LG offers the StanbyME Go, a 27-inch screen with an integrated stand, speakers and battery, all housed in a suitcase-style box with a top handle for easy transport.
Recently, LG added a new model, called LG Smart Monitor Swing, designed for the office market, featuring adjustable height and angle for ergonomic flexibility.
In response, Samsung plans to roll out its own battery-powered TV mounted on a wheeled pedestal base, aiming to boost portability and compete more directly against LG.
Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com Sookyung Seo edited this article.
