With
LG Electronics’ recent launch of its Google TV series, it jumped the gun in the
next-generation television technology race-for-supremacy amongst Asia’s top tech powerhouses. The television-maker will be
introducing its organic light-emitting display (OLED) TV to Europe, months
ahead of its original plan to launch mid-2012, and edging-out cross-town rival
Samsung Electronics, which is also due to unveil its next-generation TV. At
least for now, flat-panel dominance belongs to the South Koreans.
Those
days are gone
In
the past, buying a quality television set meant getting a Sharp, a Panasonic,
or a Sony, all Japanese brands. It looks like times are changing.
The
Japanese brands, which ruled the global TV markets of the 1980’s and 1990’s,
have been continuously challenged by their South Korean rivals. Add to that the
weak demand for their products and the strengthening of the yen, and the value
of their exports continues to erode. Analysts expect Sony Corp., Panasonic
Corp., and Sharp Corp. to lose a combined USD21 billion in the business year
just ended, while their South Korean neighbors are expected to report profits.
The
down-trend of the Japanese brands comes at a time when the TV market looks
headed toward making a technology choice, between the thin OLEDs and the LCD HDTVs,
which may ultimately result in the LCDs being sent to the bargain shelves. The
advantage now will go to whoever can mass-produce affordable OLEDs.
It
will be recalled that in the 1980s, Sony lost out in a similar consumer
technology battle over home videotapes, with its Betamax format being crushed
by VHS. And just in recent years Toshiba’s HD DVD was crushed by Blu-ray.
If
the price is right
Sony
was the first to market OLED TV technology, in 2007, but stopped production
three years later in the midst of a global economic meltdown, instead switching
focus to the 3D technology. Both LG and Samsung, on the other hand, early this
year unveiled proto-type OLED TVs, with Samsung committing to spin off its LCD
panel business into OLEDs.
OLEDs
boast of superior images and do not need backlighting. Its obstacle, always
felt by its makers as passed on to consumers, is its price. What this means is that LCDs will still rule
the global TV market roost for a while, because OLEDS are that expensive that it
is possible to buy 10 LCD TVs for the price of one OLED. Industry analysts say
that consumers are more likely to get an OLED when the price hits at maximum
1.4 times that of an LCD TV set.
Japan, meanwhile, has a potential rival offering – aka 4K,
ultra high-definition TV sets which boast images four times sharper than
today’s HDTVs. Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp all have this technology, but are
stone-walled by broadcasting infrastructure problems. The TV stations would
need to record the programs in 4K to be able to broadcast it and let viewers
watch the new ultra high-definition standard. These sets, however, could be
used to view Internet-downloaded videos and so will be capable of displaying
higher definition content.
The
Japanese were the television experts of the 80’s and 90’s, so it’s still too
early to tell if the South Koreans will continue lording it over consumer
television. The Japanese may very well bounce back, very much like those cheap cell phones no contract deals. But they may very well need help in the process.
based on a 25 Apr news report by Tim Kelly and Clare
Jim as seen on Yahoo! News.
