Is there room for OLED in TV market?

After examining Sony Corp.’s 11-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) television, there is no denying how stunning the picture is. But at just 11-inches, it’s hard to imagine a family gathering around it to watch a DVD or television show. But because the OLED-TV market is still in its infancy, with the Sony set being the first to be manufactured and sold to consumers, it’s unreasonable to expect it to compete effectively with liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display panel (PDP) televisions at this time. However, this begs the question: Will OLED TV ever be able to match up with LCD and PDP televisions?

“It will be a challenge for OLED to catch up, given the investments that have been put into the other technologies,” said Paul Semenza, vice president of displays at iSuppli Corp. “But there is no doubt about its performance and there is a lot of potential for the display technology, maybe in mobile applications.” With Sony being the first to throw its hat into the OLED-TV ring, due to its introduction of the 11-inch set this month in Japan at a price of $1,800, shipment volumes are expected to be very small, targeting a small niche of well-heeled, tech-savvy consumers.  And even at such a high price, Sony indicated that it is taking a loss on the sale of each OLED set, according to Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli. Full article here: Engineer Live!