LG's rollable OLED TV is finally on sale in the UK, two years after it was first expected to launch worldwide, and several months after a trial sales period in LG's home country of South Korea.
It will, however, set you back £99,999, starting this week to pre-order, meaning you may have to choose between a deposit on a sizeable house and a TV that rolls up into a tube. So, a no brainer, really?
Since LG first showed off the Signature OLED R, it's inspired awe and fascination in many a technology pundit, utilizing OLED's flexible panel materials to furl and unfurl – much like a carpet – at the touch of a button.
It's an incredible space-saving measure, allowing viewers to hide away the screen entirely or set its height at 'half mast' for some limited smart display functionality.
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Unfortunately, it isn't a cost-saving measure, and the complex mechanical parts mean production is very pricey. We also heard reports earlier this year that the TV had very few sales (around 10) in South Korea, though the astronomical price means that may well have covered the base costs of manufacture.
LG tells us that "Each rollable TV is produced to order, painstakingly assembled and finished with a craftsman-like attention to detail by the most experienced production professionals at LG’s factory in South Korea." So at least there aren't piles of these televisions lying around.
The pricing is certainly above what was expected. The RRP in South Korea launched at ₩100,000,000, and confirmed to be $87,000 in the US – which converts to around £67,000 / AU$123,000. The UK pricing, then, has seen a 30% uptick, though importing fees may have made this more complicated.
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