Sony and Panasonic reportedly cancel their OLED technology partnership due because the production costs are too high for it to be saleable to the public.
OLEDs (organic light-emitting diode) are used in digital devices such as TV screens, computer monitors, and portable devices such as smartphones, game consoles, and palmtop computers. OLEDs are capable of accommodating higher resolutions for larger displays. Thus, many electronics company are interested in using this technology for their large TV screens.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the two Japanese electronics corporation decided to forget about the business venture after realizing that lowering the production costs is something impossible at this time. However, sources said that they still considering producing OLEDs in the future. The partnership will officially end this month. Sony and Panasonic have worked on this project for almost a year and a half before coming on this sad conclusion.
Sony was the first to develop an 11-inch OLED TV model in 2007 but had challenges making it bigger due to expensive production costs. That was the time that Panasonic agreed to work with its competitor to research on making OLED available for bigger screens. The partnership succeeded in making a 56-inch OLED TV prototype but decided not to pursue it because the price is too high for the consumers.
OLED TVs with big displays are already out in the market with Samsung and LG. Samsung is selling its 54.6-inch Curved Smart OLED TV for $9,999.99 while LG is selling its 55-inch curved OLED TV originally for $14,999 but dropped its price to match that of Samsung. These companies were able to launch OLED TVs but admitted that making it saleable to the consumers is really challenging.
Looking at Samsung's and LG's prices which are really expensive compared to Sony’s high-end 4K Ultra HD TV which starts at $2,999, the decision is not that surprising as most consumers may not be willing to shell out that much thousands of dollars. NPD DisplaySearch also forecasted that the demand for 4K Ultra HD TV will also increase from a total of 1.9 million units in 2013 to 12.7 million units in 2014.
