Sony, Panasonic end joint development of OLED TV screens

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan’s two largest consumer electric companies, Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp have announced that they will end their joint development of OLED (organic light emitting diode) TV screens. They will instead focus on making conventional LCD (liquid crystal display) screens for 4K ultra high-definition TVs which seem to be more marketable, Japan Daily Press reports.

The two companies have been struggling in recent years against their South Korean rivals who had a bigger share in the overseas market. They built the OLED alliance June of last year to create more mass-production technology by the end of 2013 but as the months passed, it was clear that they will not hit their target. OLED panels, which are used in Samsung tablets and smartphones are more expensive especially when used on bigger sized screens such as televisions.

Sales of the OLED technology developed by both companies have failed to reach the growth they initially envisioned and seems to be not commercially viable in the near future. They will however continue to develop this technology independently as both have shown 56-inch OLED televisions in this year’s Consumer electronics show (CES). Even LG Electronics Inc, the leading OLED television maker, still has to get traction in their market sales as it is still relatively more expensive that its LCD counterparts.