Sony, who has been forced to move to third party manufacturers to make their Bravia LCD TVs, has cut a deal with Sharp to make backlight LED TVs. The deal will see Sony go head to head with Samsung who are the market leader in backlight LED TVs.
The new Sony Bravia TVs will incorporate the same LED display panel found in the Sharp Aquos TV’s.
The new line up of Bravia LED TV’s are set to be revealed at the 2010 CES Show in Las Vegas in January alongside new Sony OLED TVs, that are thinner and more eco friendly than current Sony LCD TVs.
Several TV brands are set to go head to head in 2010 with new LED TV technology. Sony who will use the 2010 World Cup to try and resurrect their brand which consumers have turned away from in favour of flat panel TV offerings from the likes of Samsung who are market leaders in both Australia and the USA.
Both Samsung, Panasonic and LG are planning major marketing initiatives around the World Cup.
LCD TVs that use LEDs rather than traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps are thinner and offer better picture quality. This has resulted in Samsung gaining a major advantage in the market this year.
According to Reuters both firms have declined to comment on the report, saying they do not provide information about supply transactions for individual parts.
Sony plans to invest about 68 billion yen by April 2011 to take a one-third stake in a joint venture with Sharp to jointly produce LCD panels at a cutting-edge plant in western Japan.
Sony who have never made a profit from selling their Bravia TV’s were forced to move to third party manufacturers after incurring big losses. They are also licensing LCD TV technology from Vizio who outsells Sony almost two to one in the US market.
The new Sharp plant, which started output last month, is the world’s first factory that processes so-called 10th-generation glass substrates, which are bigger than earlier-generation substrates and help reduce per-panel output costs.
