Sony restarts OLED strategy and hopes to turn the TV business up

Sony killed it again on OLED TV. The last time it was 2007, it ended in failure.

Sony recently announced that the company will launch OLED TV R&D projects next year and plans to launch TV products involving OLED technology in the next three to four years.

In fact, Sony TV business has been losing for seven consecutive years, and this year's continued loss will be a high probability event. Will future Sony rely on OLED TVs?

Sony fights OLED again

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which are light, thin, and energy-saving, are recognized as next-generation display technologies. Since 2004, OLED display technology has begun to be applied to small-sized products such as MP3. The market prospect is promising. At that time, some people believed that the era of OLED has come.

Mr. Hong Shibin, deputy director of the Marketing Committee of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said in an interview with the reporter of the “Daily Economic News” that small-sized OLEDs are potential stocks, because large-size OLEDs can only be used on TVs, and the smaller the scope of use is. wide.

The problem arises when OLEDs advance to larger dimensions such as televisions. In 2007, Sony introduced the world's first 11-inch OLED TV. The thinnest part of the screen is said to be only 3mm with clear images and colorful colors. However, this did not bring about a fundamental change in Sony's TV business. It is understood that the price of the model TV in Japan is as high as 2,500 US dollars (about 15,800 yuan), due to high prices and poor sales, last year in March, Sony had to stop production and sales of OLED TVs in Japan. However, four years later, Sony once again focused on OLED technology.

Hong Shibin said that from a technical point of view, OLED TVs have many advantages. OLED TVs do not require a backlight and are therefore more power efficient and thinner than other technology TVs. The OLED TV has a very fast response time and there is no movement blur when watching TV. In addition, OLED TVs are more colorful than other technology TVs.

Earlier media quoted foreign reports that a senior Sony executive stated that the company’s recent focus will shift from LCD technology to OLED technology. Because, Sony believes that in the next 3-4 years, the proportion of OLED technology in the consumer TV market will rise significantly. To this end, Sony also adjusted the entire television business into three parts, one of which is responsible for the R&D and design of next-generation TV products.

Relevant person of Sony China responded to the reporter of "Daily Economic News" on December 12th, said that Sony has released plans to improve the profitability of TV business in early November. Regarding OLED TV related issues, Sony China has no more information to provide.

OLED technology is still regarded as important for TV services. In recent years, Sony has a sense of tastelessness that is “a tasteless and a pity”.

In early November, Sony forecasted that the company had a net loss of 90 billion yen (approximately 7.35 billion yuan) in fiscal 2011. Previously, Sony’s TV business had suffered losses for seven consecutive years. If there is no significant improvement in the fourth quarter of this year, the eighth year’s loss will be a foregone conclusion.

In the past few years, Sony has sold several TV factories in Spain, Slovakia and Mexico, and has continuously improved the outsourcing of production. Some analysts believe that Sony may continue to increase the proportion of OEMs, charge brand management fees, or simply withdraw from the TV business.

However, Sony executives repeatedly stated that they will not give up TV business. Liang Zhenpeng, an analyst in the home appliance industry, said in an interview with the reporter of the “Daily Economic News” that if Sony wants to remain competitive in the future color TV industry, it must seize the opportunity of commercializing OLED TVs to independently develop, produce, and manufacture OLED panels. The ability of the TV. Currently Samsung, LG and Changhong are all stepping up research and development of OLED TV technology, Sony also hopes to make a comeback in this market.

Liang Zhenpeng believes that with OLED technology, Sony may turn over. Because OLED is currently used in large-screen commercial applications, there is no truly successful enterprise. Once successful in the OLED field, Sony may be able to get rid of the current LCD TV losses.

However, the shortcomings of low yields and high product cost for large-screen OLED TVs have not yet been overcome. It is unknown whether Sony can succeed.

Hong Shibin believes that the innovation of the screen is only to solve the visual effects, and the difference between different screens will not be great. The real competition of the TV in the future is the competition of the software, that is, the "system warfare". The screen is the foundation and the system is the key to future competition. In the future, only by mastering the core system software can we have the right to speak in the market.