June 25, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC, TOKYO:6752) and Sony Corporation will combine their core and printing technology to jointly develop next-generation organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel and module manufacturing technology.
Sony and Panasonic will develop printing-method-manufacturable next-generation OLED technology, targeting low-cost mass production of large, high-resolution OLED panels and modules for TVs and large-sized displays.
Sony and Panasonic plan to establish a mass-production methodology in 2013.
Sony makes 11” and 25” OLED displays, using deposition technologies for manufacturing. Sony has actively promoted the research and development of next-generation OLED technologies such as hybrid OLED element devices and processing technologies that combine deposition and printing methods, thin film transistor (TFT) drivers such as oxide TFTs, and flexible organic TFTs.
Panasonic uses an all-printing method, as well as other printing techniques, to make its large-sized screen, high-resolution OLED panels. Panasonic owns the unique production and equipment technologies to produce OLED panels via this method. Panasonic is also pursuing the future possibility of OLED panels, and is carrying out research and development of advancements in flexible OLED panels and aiming to develop large-sized, high-quality sheet-type displays.
In parallel with the joint development of the next-generation technologies of the OLED panels and modules, Sony and Panasonic plan to continue to study collaboration in the mass production of OLED panels and modules. Also, each company plans to utilize its own strengths to develop and commercialize its own competitive, high-performance, next-generation OLED televisions and large-sized displays.