Panasonic and Sony May Partner Up on OLED, Prices May Finally Fall

Rumors have it that Sony and Panasonic are in preliminary talks to create OLED panels together to combat recent moves by rival Samsung on premium level televisions. Running about $9000, the 55-inch Samsung ES9000 will reportedly cost four times what a comparable LCD set does. After this year’s CES, many of us in the industry thought that Sony had abandoned OLED in favor of their new Crystal LED technology, but perhaps the costs of R&D and going it alone with a new technology (SXRD instead of DLP anyone?) have changed Sony’s mind.

Advantages of OLED are many. Richer colors, lower power consumption, better contrast, and a lack of motion blur result in a fantastic quality image, as many owners of Samsung smartphones have discovered. By partnering, Sony and Panasonic and split the risk as well as achieve the kind of volume required to reduce panel costs fast, which could give them an advantage over Samsung, who has recently taken the lead in the major-brand TV market share and consumer brand preference. While these talks are merely preliminary, it’s quite possible that other partners may be brought in in the near future in order to further increase production. Will this stimulate new TV buying? We’ll see, but at  least plasma fans will finally have a place to go when their current sets die.

Via: [Digital Trends]