Sony and Panasonic End OLED Partnership

Sony and Panasonic have decided to dissolve their joint venture in OLED development.

After joining forces last year to develop and manufacture OLED televisions, Sony and Panasonic are once again going their separate ways. The electronics giants hoped to work together to bring OLED sets to the mass market, but production issues proved to be too problematic.

The goal was to merge Panasonic's organic printing methods with Sony's OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, creating displays with vastly improved black levels and contrast over traditional LCD TVs. Unfortunately, reports indicate that the resulting panels were not durable or cost effective enough. Once their contract ends at the end of the year, the partnership will expire and both companies will resume their own independent OLED research and development. In the meantime, Sony and Panasonic have expressed continued interest in 4K television manufacturing and will be emphasizing Ultra HD LCD TVs in the coming year.

This leaves LG's 55EA9800 and Samsung's KN55S9C 55-inch curved-screen TVs as the primary large-screen OLED displays commercially available in the US. More details regarding any potential future OLED and Ultra HD TV models from all the major electronics companies are expected to be announced at CES in Las Vegas from January 7-10.

Source: Nikkei via Engadget

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