In media events held at the start of CES 2025, and in their main exhibit space, the top five global TV makers had very different approaches in their announcements about products. The two South Korean giants, Samsung and LG, focused on artificial intelligence (AI) while the upcoming Chinese competitors, Hisense and TCL, claimed the leadership of display technology in the TV space. Finally, Sony’s conference featured many connections with its content businesses. But all these TV makers described their strategic partnerships with US technology firms.
LG
LG Electronics was the first company to hold its conference on media day. The theme of the company’s presentation was its “Affectionate Intelligence” strategy. LG aims to build a “fundamental trifecta” of devices, AI agents and services. It has partnered with Microsoft on several AI initiatives, including providing cooling centers for Microsoft’s data centers. LG described how AI features can connect its appliances and devices seamlessly to personalize the experience.
LG has used a “day in the life” theme in prior CES shows, and this one emphasized LG’s products in home appliances, automotive components and IT, leaving barely any room for its home entertainment (TV) business.
LG’s exhibit space in the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Central Hall has surprised attendees every year with a new way to demonstrate the beautiful pictures of OLED in massive structures at the entrance to its exhibit, which is also the first entrance to the Central Hall. This year, it had MicroLED displays in a configuration at the entrance, but as the attendees walked into the exhibit, they saw a big tower of transparent OLED TV displays at the center – LG calls this OLED T.
LG’s OLED T Tower
With respect to the TV product line, the OLED T tower was the beginning and the end of LG’s public exhibit. The exhibit repeated the themes of the media conference focusing on “Affectionate Intelligence”. LG did announce that its flagship OLED TV in 2025 would be capable of 4000 nits of peak brightness. A colleague learned that the company achieved higher brightness with a 4-stack OLED structure without MLA with deuterium used for green and blue.
For the first year in many years, LG Display did not have a large private exhibition, since the company is under severe financial pressure.
Samsung
Like LG, Samsung highlighted its AI initiatives in both its media conference and its exhibits in the LVCC Central Hall. Unlike LG, Samsung put a great emphasis on data security. Samsung has its Knox Matrix platform (Fort Knox is the storage location for the US Federal Reserve’s gold stock) for security working across connected devices, including appliances and laptops as well as TVs. Samsung describes Knox Matrix as a “private blockchain system that provides robust security through multi-layered, intelligent threat monitoring”.
Samsung devices include wearables like watches and rings, and it is working with Dexcom on increased biosensors, which it plans to integrate into Samsung Health. With possibly sensitive health information on the devices, data security becomes even more important.
Samsung has developed a partnership with Intel for laptop AI PCs. The event highlighted its Galaxy Book5 Pro and Galaxy Book 5 360 models. While LG almost completely skipped its TV products, Samsung said its AI-featured TVs will monitor content and adjust picture and sound levels for the viewer and the ambient environment. Samsung will also include generative wallpaper on all its QLED TVs.
Samsung will launch a personal assistant robot named Bolly in 2025. The Samsung conference concluded with a review of B2B solutions, which Samsung characterizes as SmartThings. This will allow personalized experiences at hotels, and additional features for offices, autos and even container ships.
Samsung’s Personal Assistant, Bolly
