Speaking of QDs…

Speaking of QDs…
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​A few days before CES this year Chinese CE brand TCL (000100.CH) indicated that it would be shipping it first QD/OLED TV by the end of this year at a press briefing and in materials available to the press before the show began.  While the technology behind QD/OLED is broad enough that patent protection could likely be relatively easily side-stepped, TCL, or one of its subsidiaries in the display space, most likely Chinastar (pvt) or China Display Optronics (334.HK) would have to build at least a pilot line to produce such a device, with enough capacity to at least place product in conspicuous locations.  Certainly we are not saying that such a pilot line has not been built, but Chinese brands are want to publicize achievements and little has been said about such a development at TCL, although they have made considerable progress in developing Mini-LED technology.
As it turns out, the TCL statements turned out to be a mistake, and the company indicated that such plans were incorrect and its intention is to continue to develop and promote its mini-LED display technology this year, leaving Samsung Display as the sole producer of the technology and Samsung Electronics and Sony (SNE) as the only brands currently offering QD/OLED TVs.  While TCL is best known for their lower priced but higher quality TVs, and being particularly fierce competitor in the mini-LED TV space, it looks like TCL’s marketing guys got a bit carried away pre-CES, and we will have to wait a bit to see how far along TCL is concerning QD/OLED display technology, at least until 2024.