Sony Says OLÉ (D) to Europe

Company Uses OLED to take Technology Leader Position in European Market

<August 13, 2008><Nikkei-TOKYO><Reuters-TOKYO>Sony Corp. intends to sell 11-inch OLED TV sets in Europe, the largest TV market in the world…possibly as early as this fall…according to reports from Reuters and the Nikkei. By being first in the market with OLED, the company hopes to set itself up as a technology leader in next generation TV technologies.

Although the company has yet to officially announce the quantity that they expect to sell, or what pricing they would establish, most likely the pricing would be similar to that currently sold in Japan and the U.S. which is ¥200,000 and $2,500.

According to the Nikkei story, the company total output capability is currently maxed out at 2,000 units per month. However, Sony has plans to invest ¥22 billion (about $200 million) in Sony Mobile Display Corp. for a plant to mass produce larger OLED panels.

OLED televisons feature extremely thin screens with better picture quality that is said to be superior to either LCD or plasma flat panel screens. Earlier this year Samsung showed 14-inch and 31-inch OLED prototypes of which the 14-inch model was planned to be marketed in 2010.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. also has plans to begin selling OLED sets in 2011 suggesting that competition is increasing in this next-generation technology.

According to estimates from DisplaySearch, LLC, OLED television shipments will grow to 2.8 million units by 2012 from the current level of about 200,000 units. As impressive as this growth appears, it is still well below the estimated 160 million LCD televisions and 17 million plasma sets estimated to ship the same year.

(Photo: Reuters)