Report: Sony's OLED TVs on hold
Nobody, least of all Sony, ever said it would be easy to start cranking out OLED TVs. It doesn't help matters to be in a financial crunch.
So it should come as little surprise that according to a report in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal (subscriber access only), losses in Sony's TV division are driving the electronics giant to put a hold on future OLEDs TVs.
Sony shows off its OLED TVs at CES 2007. That's a 27-inch model in the middle; all the others are 11-inch models.
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET)Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal says that new OLED (organic light-emitting diode) production would compound the poor performance at Sony's TV division--which looks likely to lose money again for the sixth straight year, meaning a return to profitability is paramount.
Sony's TV division lost 127 billion yen ($1.34 billion) in fiscal 2008, noted the Journal, accounting for more than half of the company's operating losses for the year.
More than two years ago, Sony showed off its OLED TVs, in 11-inch and 27-inch formats, to great excitement, and the company was hopeful to start getting them out the door sometime in 2008. But the 11-inch model sported a $2,500 price tag, versus 50-inch LCD TVs that cost the same or less.
Compared with today's LCDs, OLED displays are ultrathin, suck up less power, and offer better contrast and colors. The technology is already used by cell phones, MP3 players, and other mobile gadgets.
But creating large OLED displays has been a difficult and expensive challenge. Research firm DisplaySearch says that four of every 10 panels that Sony makes for its 11-inch OLED fail to make the grade and can't be sold, noted the Journal.
While Sony is delaying its OLED production, its rivals aren't standing still, though other units have yet to hit the market. LG revealed a prototype of a 15-inch model at this year's CES, but has said it won't make anything larger for another two or three years.
Samsung has also been busy demoing its OLED prototypes, showing off a 31-inch model at CES 2009. But this unit, too, won't likely hit the shelves for a number of years.
The main competition to OLED may still be the old reliable LCD. Prices keep plummeting while the quality of LCD gets better. Newer LCDs are also thinner, chew up less electricity, and can provide brighter and better colors, noted the Journal.
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET. 
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LED backlit LCDs have narrowed the gap substantially against plasmas for image quality, and color reproduction. 1 year ago, I would've said plasmas win the TV fight hands-down in all these areas.
However...
There was an article either on cnet or pcworld that compared a recent generation Panasonic plasma against Samsung's LED backlight. The plasma BARELY squeaked by more than a couple of points for all the criteria mentioned above.
When taking into account the size of my living room, a plasma would eat up too much real estate and would at the same time require more space for me to be able to sit back reasonably far while watching a movie. LED backlight TV's, despite their costs (which have been falling quickly at my local Bestbuy) are more expensive, but more practical for my house. I saw a Samsung LED 240hz drop by about $300-400 in a few months time. I'm willing to wait a few more months until the 46" drops to about $1,500 or the 52" drops to $2,000 to jump on either.
Yes, I am a Samsung fanboy and yes, I also know about Panasonic's quality plasmas and the fact that they acquired Pioneer's Kuro technology. I'm told that Samsung plasmas aren't too far behind for quality and if anything, are actually decent bargains as well.
Let the TV wars begin...seriously. I need an excuse to buy a laptop with HDMI so I can watch my movies and TV shows with HD quality.
I would not be surprised that the first company to really take advantage of OLED panels will be either Samsung or LG Electronics, with VIZIO following behind about a year later with lower-cost units.
Give it time.
What Sony should do it go into the PC monitor market with OLEDs. Yes it won't be practical for mass consumption, but it will give a good revenue boost while testing all the necessary technology for larger TVs.,
1. Sony needs to reach financial solvency.
2. Related to #1 tangentially, it has the patents for OLED technology, but no factories and insufficient cash reserves for investing in factories. Samsung, Sharp, and perhaps Vizio as well have access to in-house manufacturing facilities and 3rd party vendors it can get the components from. If Sony had been able to obtain the parts to manufacture LED backlit monitors, it would've done so already. Problem is, Samsung is one of few companies that knows how to make white LEDs, but refuses to hand them over to Sony. It only offers the glass substrates, which aren't difficult to make.
I just bought an LCD but when I went to the LG site I couldn't find the power usage of either the LCD or plasma listed. Interesting that I can find it for every other appliance in the house.
Either due to age (going dim) or the CFT tube is broken. This backlight could be replaced with white LED's and sustain lower power consumption that currently used. But while trying to advance in leaps, why not in steps using existing technology?