Matsushita Planning 37-inch OLED TVs?
June 24, 2008 | by Geoff Duncan
Reports have Japan's Matsushita aiming to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years, potentially jump-starting the OLED market.
According to the Japanese trade daily Sankei Shimbun, electronics giant Matsushita—still in the process of transitioning its corporate identity to its better-known sub-brand Panasonic—is putting the finishing touches on plans to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years. If the plans bear out, it would make Matsushita the first manufacturer producing OLED televisions over 30 inches in size, and could enable Matsushita to challenge Samsung for the top spot in the flat-screen television market.
According to the report, Matsushita is considering initial prices around •150,000 (roughly $1,400), although Matsushita itself said only that the company is working on commercializing OLED televisions at some point in the future.
Sony launched an 11-inch OLED television in late 2007, bringing it to the United States early this year. Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Samsung are also developing OLED televisions, although so far Matsushita's proposed 37-inch size would be the largest of the bunch. OLED panels are considerably slimmer than traditional LCDs and use less energy since they don't require backlighting.
Late last year, Toshiba and Matsushita ditched a joint effort to enter the OLED television market with a 30-inch unit, following difficulties getting the system from research to production. They had planned to offer the 30-inch set in 2009.
Post Your Comment...Comments
Niq on Jun 25th, 2008 at 6:55 AM:
I have decided not to do the HDTV upgrade until OLED becomes readily available. I have seen friends and family buy LCD and Plasma sets that are terrible when it image quality. I cant wait for OLED to come to the front. It just sucks that the big panel makers will continue making inferior products. Why cant they spend all their time developing OLED technology ?
Kevin on Jun 25th, 2008 at 7:05 AM:
I haven't seen the Sony in action, but I've seen images and read up on the specs. It looks fantastic and if the specs hold true, the image qualities on these will be phenomenal. However, as I recall when they first released it, the going price for an 11" OLED was about $10,000.
I find it extremely difficult to believe that we'll see $1,400 OLED prices for 1st gen Matsu****as. I suppose we'll see...
Randall_nd on Jul 1st, 2008 at 9:07 PM:
I have been following OLED technology all along and am highly interested in it. I've also heard that eventually, the panels will be so inexpensive that video walls, like the one on Total Recall will be possible. Also rolling billboards on city buses will be commonplace. Laser TV is also an exciting upcoming technology with virtually unlimited resolution.
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Matt on Jun 24th, 2008 at 8:56 AM:
The OLED that Sony had at CES was amazing. IF Matsu****a can make a 37", and keep it to $1400.00, it will be a huge success. If you've ever seen an OLED in action, you understand.