Strategy in TECH...
We are just learning that the South Korean Labor Ministry has issued an order to LG Display Co. Inc., to stop all operations at an OLED panel production line following reports of a nitrogen gas leak. While details are sketchy, the news was reported by Reuters out of Seoul, South Korea and is apparently the result of some type of industrial accident that occurred during the process of manufacturing OLED panels.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the undisputed global leader in TVs and other key products, launched its CES 2015 press conference in a pattern familiar to those of us who have attended them over the years. But there was one moment in this carefully scripted presentation this year that caught our attention…a moment unlike any other we’ve experienced before at a Samsung presentation. It was a moment when the company actually sounded a touch…defensive.
Starting off press day at CES 2015 with a bang, LG Electronics, Inc. seemed to us to convey a decidedly cool confidence. In the past, LG could be defensive…often struggling to emerge from the shadows of its larger rival – Samsung.
Yesterday in South Korea, LG Electronics made formal what we all knew was coming – they are ending production of all plasma display panel products. Even though we knew it was coming, somehow…it still hurts. We’ve had many an engineer tell us the plasma was the most accurate picture available – many saying they own it themselves. Certainly, they are sure to be ruing this day.
A Who’s Who collection of significant panel and display manufacturers in Japan says they will collectively invest ¥20 billion ($193 million) into a test production line for OLED panels using a new manufacturing process that promises to move the industry closer to mass production of what many feel is the next-generation video technology. If all goes well, the consortium will be mass-producing large quantities of relatively inexpensive OLED panels by 2018.
Just days after a similar announcement from South Korean rival Samsung Electronics, Sony Corp. has said it will put OLED technology on the back burner – scaling back development efforts for the forseeable future. Instead, the company says it sees a greater immediate opportunity with 4K Ultra HD LCD TVs and will work to expand its assortment in this product segment.
In a move that is likely to signify a tipping point in the industry’s adoption of OLED technology, Samsung Electronics is dropping plans to build a new factory that was supposed to help it scale manufacturing of the nascent technology, driving production volumes and lowering cost. But as we’ve reported before, manufacturing OLED…well, it’s just not easy.
In a report that appeared in the Nikkei on Christmas Day, it appears that Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have dissolved a joint OLED production initiative and will instead seek new methods individually. As a result, both companies will back-burner OLED and redouble their efforts on building their 4K UHDTV businesses.
The conventional wisdom in the world of television technology is that LCD won the panel platform wars and most talk of the future has moved from LCD to LED to OLED and beyond. But wait a minute, as new data from market researcher Quixel Research shows, don’t bury plasma in the grave just yet…
It is now late January and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is well into our rear-view mirror. Yes, as in other years, there has been a flood of publicity and tons of articles on gadgets introduced at the show. The show’s promoter, the CEA, has already crowed about the event being the biggest ever and all seems well. Or is it?
