Sony, Panasonic, and now Toshiba. LG.Display has managed to persuade all three Japanese companies to launch OLED TVs. Unlike the Sony and Panasonic models, Toshiba’s OLED TV will be available only in Japan.
Toshiba OLED TV
There used to be a time where Japan ruled the TV business. Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Hitachi were all producing TV panels in-house. Then South Korean Samsung and LG came along.
Toshiba is the latest company to seek help from the outside by sourcing OLED panels from LG.Display. The company will launch 55” and 65” OLED TVs in Japan for 700,000 and 900,000 Yen, which corresponds to roughly 6000 and 8000 USD.
Toshiba’s OLED TV will be available only in Japan. Like many other giants of the past, Toshiba had to surrender and pull out of the US and Europe when the South Korean took over the TV market. The Toshiba TV brand has been licensed to Taiwan’s Compal Electronics in the US and to Turkey’s Vestel in Europe. No plans have been announced to launch an OLED TV under the Toshiba brand in the Western markets.
One of the few remaining major TV manufacturer not to offer an OLED TV is Samsung. The company tried to set up mass-production a few years ago but had to abandon the plans due to low yields. At one point, Toshiba partnered with Panasonic to realize an OLED TV but had to abandon those plans.
Despite LG.Display being the only company capable of mass-producing OLED TV panels, it has managed to convince major partners to back the project, which has led to strong momentum for OLED.
