LG & Sony: See Visions of OLED TVs On Christmas Morning 09

Slow down or low down financial catastrophe is not going to spoil the high-end entertainment products industry next Christmas. LG confirmed its plans to deck the halls with an OLED display by Christmas 2009. Sony, the granddaddy of commercial OLED TVs is planning to unveil a 21-inch or 27-inch OLED XEL-2 TV at Berlin's IFA in September, 2009, according to the grapevine.

Amitabh Tiwari of LG told eWorld "the company plans to launch LED and OLED displays options and stated the price for the OLED might be in the neighborhood of 2.1 times the price of an LCD", according to Business Line. LG has an eye on achieving a 33-percent market share with the planned introduction of 35 LCD models this year at its LG India facilities. In the mix LG will offer LED- backlit display models with a projected release date set for the next several months.

On the other hand, Sony's XEL-1 11-inch OLED model is selling on-line in the USA for less than $2500. For some inexplicable reason Sony released a similar 11-inch OLED model in Australia for an asking price of $6,000. Rumors about the proposed debut of a 21-inch or 27-inch OLED dubbed the OLED XEL-2 OLED TV at IFA 2009 in September has not been confirmed by Sony and a retail price appears way in the offing. Let's imagine beau coup American sawbucks.

According to Smarthouse, Sony showed off a prototype 21-inch OLED with a 1366 x 758 resolution and a 1,000,000,000:1 contrast ratio that is similar to the Aussie XEL-1 model. There is no doubt the OLED is exceptional, but the hefty price requires some strategic planning for releasing it to market. According to a variety of news sources, while R&D continues by the major Asian manufacturers in high speed fashion, releasing high-end products remains wait and see, citing the doggone economy.

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