The Wall Street Journalreports that Sony is postponing plans to launch OLED televisions. The buzz about OLED tvs has been very good. OLED tvs have a very high resolution, are incredibly thin and use much less energy than other types of tvs. Unfortunately, the tvs have not proven to be cheap to make and Sony is concerned that starting to mass produce the OLED displays "would exacerbate losses at its TV division."
The company had been targeting a 2009 release for a larger successor to a model with an 11-inch screen released in late 2007, which is the first and only OLED TV to reach stores so far. That model's screen is three millimeters thick. But Sony has decided to push back the new model until at least next year, these people said.
The decision sends a message to Sony's engineers that returning its TV business to profitability is a priority. The business is on track to lose money for the sixth straight year. In the past, Sony's engineers could push the company to roll out products that were technological marvels but struggled to turn a profit.
The postponement opens the door to competitors such as LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. to assume leadership in a promising technology, touted as a potential replacement to liquid-crystal displays.
The promise of OLED tvs is exciting but it will be at least a couple years before a large OLED tv will be available and it will be a couple more years after that before they are affordable.
