Chinese TV makers face class action suits in US amid growing scrutiny of QLED TV claims

Hisense's U7N Mini-LED QLED TV / Captured from Hisense USA website

Doubts over Chinese makers’ quantum dot LED (QLED) TVs are growing in the United States, as customers in Illinois recently filed a class action lawsuit against Hisense for alleged false advertising of its QLED TVs — following similar cases in California and New York.

According to a complaint filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on April 10, Kalp Khamesra, a Chicago resident, on behalf of similarly situated others, sued Hisense USA for violating Illinois’ consumer fraud statute and negligent misrepresentation.

In the filing, the complaint accused Hisense of deceiving consumers by marketing certain models — including the QD5, QD6, QD65, QD7, U7 and U7N series — as QLED TVs despite having been long “aware that its QLED TVs do not have the advertised QLED technology.”

The complaint argued that Hisense’s televisions either failed to have QLED technology or had QLED technology present in “such negligible amounts that it does not meaningfully contribute to the performance” as advertised. It continued that the quantum dot technology leaves known chemical markers, thus making it easy to verify whether it is actually present in a television.

The plaintiff, who purchased a 75-inch U7N model from Costco on Oct. 30, 2024, claims he was misled by product pages that promoted benefits such as “see color like you’ve never seen it before” and “over a billion individual shades.”

“Not only are Hisense’s statements untrue and misleading, but whether a television actually has quantum dot technology cannot be readily verified by the consumer, especially prior to purchase,” the filing reads.

Visitors crowd Hisense's booth at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin on Sept. 6. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo

The Illinois case follows earlier class actions filed in California and New York. In February, Hisense USA faced a class action complaint filed by a New York resident who alleged that Hisense falsely advertised its QLED TVs, even though the televisions “may not actually have” quantum dot technologies or had a negligible amount of materials.

Also in February, TCL North America was sued by a California resident for allegedly violating false advertising laws, with the lawsuit questioning the presence of quantum dot technology in TCL’s QLED TVs.

The suits come after a series of reports in September last year, including that of The Korea Times, about a Korean panel component manufacturer’s test on TCL televisions.

The manufacturer, Hansol Chemical, commissioned tests of three TCL QD televisions — the C655, C655 Pro and the C755 — to global testing and certification agencies SGS and Intertek and found that the TVs lacked the key elements required for QD technology, such as indium or cadmium.

Regarding the test results, Hansol Chemical filed a complaint with Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, claiming that TCL violated the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising. The antitrust watchdog is currently reviewing the case.