When is OLED TV popular? Cnet: manufacturing costs remain high for at least 3-5 years

Sony produced OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV XEL-1 has a beautiful picture. Its contrast makes the image clear, and the thickness of less than a credit card, but the screen is only 11 inches, and the price of $11 for $2500, is astronomical.

But since XEL-1 was launched in January 2008, it's been a year. But now the market, it still does not have competitors, where the competitors have gone?

According to the "Cnet" report, although the market is often guaranteed by the industry, OLED TV era is coming, but obviously, we have to wait a long time. Electronics giants who have the resources to make OLED TVs are also hit by the global financial crisis. In other words, it's not a good time to launch a new television technology.

DisplaySearch TV market analyst Paul Gagnon said: OLED TV manufacturing cost is still high, and always maintain the state, until the manufacturers are willing to take a risk with their capacity to manufacture large quantities of OLED tv. The high risk investment is not in the scope of the majority of manufacturers are now considered.

Including Samsung (005930-KR), Sony (SNE-US), LG Electronics (034220-KR), Toshiba (6502-JP), Panasonic (6752-JP) has said it will manufacture OLED TV, but only Sony really do. However, Sony products are not really mature, its size is not up to the standard TV, the price is too high. As for the other companies, only in the electronic show on the concept prototype.

The market had hoped that Samsung and Sony will launch a larger size OLED TV this year, if they really plan to do so, will be in the CES Electronics Show in January this year on the model to show off the market boom, but this did not happen. On the contrary, Sony is still on display for 1 years, XEL-1, as well as a size of a prototype of the size of 21 inches; as for the Samsung on the display of a prototype of a 40 inch.

This does not mean that making OLED TV is not possible. The company's products, there are a lot of OLED screen, but these products are not large screen size, such as cell phones, satellite navigation, portable media player.

Small screen simple, but to make a large panel OLED, such as a computer screen or TV, it is not easy. On the market only the enterprise has the ability to create OLED TV, but Panasonic said in September last year, OLED TV will suspend production plan, basically it will continue to embrace in the plasma TV's success. As for Toshiba also take a wait-and-see attitude towards the market.

OLED TV from prototype to the amount of product barriers, that is money.

Now the manufacturing cost of OLED is about 2 times as much as that of liquid crystal. Barry Young, director of the OLED Institute, said: when the liquid crystal to tens of millions, or even hundreds of billions of dollars to make, OLED only one million units a month. Until OLED production can keep pace with LCD, its manufacturing costs remain high.

Sony said it would invest $243 million to accelerate the birth of OLED TV plant, is expected in March 2010 when the plant began to operate. The prospect and hope of OLED is that the cost of OLED is high, but the electricity saved over a long period of time will make the consumption worthwhile. The OLED is now high, but compared with the liquid crystal, the composition of the original less.

Young pointed out that when the OLED panel production capacity of 10 million units per month, it reached equilibrium, and the price will be lower than the liquid crystal panel manufacturing, because of the small number of components, low manufacturing cost will probably last a 10-20% ratio of liquid crystal panel.

However, there is a hidden OLED panel, which is the product life issues. This is also the industry needs to address the issue.

In addition, LCD TV popularity remains high. Samsung is the world's largest LCD TV manufacturers, by the end of 2008, the quarterly shipments of more than 10 million LCD TV to North America, not to mention there are many untapped market.

But when these potential OLED TV manufacturers to market shocks, they will brave OLED technology development is too difficult. LG may be an anomaly in the CES Electronics Show, the North American president Miachel Ahn said, not cut spending on innovation in science and technology. LG said it would launch a 15 inch OLED TV in June 2009, but there is also the possibility of delay, because the market in the CES show did not even see a shadow.

So, when will the market see OLED TV on the shelves? In addition to the Sony XEL-1 wanpiao nature products, OLED television will probably have at least 3-5 years, will appear in front of consumers.