After Only 2 Years, Sony Drops OLED in Japan

Once trumpeted as Sony’s return to high technology leadership, the company has stopped production of OLED TV in Japan:

I want this world's first OLED TV to be the symbol of the revival of Sony's technological prowess. I want this to be the flag under which we charge forwards to turn the fortunes around.

 Former Sony President, Ryoji Chubachi, October 2007

A Sony spokesman says the company intends to continue sales overseas, but what happens in Japan is often a foreshadowing of what will follow in the rest of the world.

With estimated worldwide shipments of a mere 2000 units according to DisplaySearch, I suppose it is no wonder the plug is being pulled; and yes, this pun is in widespread usage.  As of late, Sony has been losing massive amounts of money and undergoing significant restructuring, eliminating jobs and closing production plants, so it’s of little surprise when viewed in that light.

While OLED has inherent advantages for use in TV sets (they can be thinner than current LCD sets that require space occupied by backlighting, have faster response times, better energy efficiency, better off axis viewing, and better contrast) they are still effectively an R&D project.  Read: OLED TV sets are still small and expensive to make, and a lot of money will need to be dumped into the technology before they are not small and expensive to make, something Sony has to be mindful of at present.  Fixing the disadvantages such as disproportionately rapid blue channel degradation will take some cash as will fixing the more limited overall lifespan and burn-in issues, all this on top of the manufacturing cost issues.

Older flat panel technologies continue to rapidly get larger and cheaper, putting pressure on OLED development.  This trend makes it an ever longer return period before OLED can hope to recoup R&D costs, and extended time to ROI is not something a company losing lots of money can long sit on.  In the mean time, trying to sell 11 inch TV sets for the equivalent of $2200 USD will not pay the bills when LCD sets can be found for as little as $200 for a luxurious 15 incher and $2 grand will buy as much as a 55” set on the cheap.

Fortunately for the rest of us, competitors Samsung, LG, and Mitsubishi will continue with OLED.  So you may one day get an OLED set, it just will likely not say Sony on it until the cost effectiveness of the product becomes a bit more palatable.