Financial Results of four Japanese Consumer Electronics Companies for the Fiscal Year Ended on March 31, 2015

For many years Sony brand was associated with “BRAVIA TVs”, Panasonic – with “VIERA TVs”, Toshiba – with “REGZA TVs”, and Sharp – with “AQUOS TVs”.

Looking at the FY2015 results, we can notice:

• Sony’s television business turned its first operating profit in 11 years after losing ¥790B in 10 years;
• Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba’s television business showed losses.

Nowadays the most profitable segments for these famous Japanese brands are:

• Automobile & Industrial segment for Panasonic
• Electronic Devices & Components segment for Toshiba
• Financial Services segment for Sony
• Business Solutions segment for Sharp.

Let’s explore financial results of iconic Japanese brands in more details.

1. PANASONIC CORPORATION

Panasonic reported financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 on April 28, 2015.

Photo: Hideaki Kawai, Senior Managing Director and Kazuhiro Tsuga, President, Panasonic Corporation.

• Net Sales result is ¥7,715B vs. ¥7,736.5B last year, FY15 net sales forecast is ¥8.0T. Lower sales happened because of decrease in demand in Japan after 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 8% since April 2014.
• Operating Profit 5% ratio, a mid-term plan target is achieved (¥381.9B). The biggest operating profit delivered by Automobile & Industrial Systems (¥105.7B) followed by Eco Solutions (¥95.3B), AVC Networks (¥51.8) and Appliances (¥40.5B). Operating profit forecast for FY2015 is ¥430B (5.4%).
• Net profit was ¥179.5B in FY2014 vs. ¥120.4B net profit in FY2013. FY2015 net profit forecast is ¥180B.
• ROE = 10.6% (FY2014), improved by 2.0 points from last year.

Panasonic named four “challenging businesses” in FY2014:

• Semiconductor business showed negative operating profit: -¥14.7B (-8.1%),
• LCD panel business recorded -¥3.6B (-4.5%) operating profit,
• TV set business operating profit was – ¥14.9B (-3.3%) in FY2014 vs – ¥15.2B (-3.0%) operating profit in FY2013.
• Air-Conditioner business had “only” ¥15.9B profit (3.5%) in FY2014.

2. TOSHIBA CORPORATION

Toshiba has previously forecasted to achieve ¥120B net profit and ¥330B operating profit for the year ended March 31, 2015 but it faced a bumpy road still preventing it to announce its FY2014 results.

On April 3, 2015, Toshiba established a Special Investigation Committee to conduct an investigation into the percentage-of-completion method of accounting used in certain infrastructure projects undertaken by three its in-house companies: Power Systems Company, the Social Infrastructure Systems Company and the Community Solutions Company.

At the meeting of the board of directors on May 8, 2015, Toshiba Corporation decided not to pay a year-end dividend for FY 2014 because it was unable to finalize its financial statements.

In addition to that, Independent Investigation Committee was created that was composed solely by fair and impartial outside experts to audit the following accounting issues:

• Percentage-of-completion method;
• Recording of operating expenses in Visual Products Business;
• Valuation of inventory in Semiconductor Business;
• Component transactions in PC Business.

Toshiba Corporation is going to have its Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on June 25, 2015 when top management will report to shareholders about investigation on appropriateness of accounting and temporary reelection of 16 Directors will be done. Tokyo Stock Exchange rules require reporting annual earnings by the end of June. Failure to do so could place Toshiba on a watch list for delisting.

Toshiba’s financial results for fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 are expected to be reported at Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to be held at a not specified later date. Sixteen Directors (most of them Outside Directors) will be elected.

3. SONY CORPORATION

On February 18, 2015 Sony unveiled its mid-term corporate strategy.

Photo: Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO at Sony Corporation

Sony will position Return on Equity (ROE) as its primary key performance indicator and has set

• a target for consolidated ROE of more than 10% and
• a target for consolidated operating profit of more than 500 billion yen

for the Sony Group in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, the final year of its mid-range corporate plan. Each business has been assigned a target figure for Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) linked with the ROE target for Sony Group as a whole, and will be managed with a clear emphasis on profitability.

Sony reported financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 on April 30, 2015.

Photo: Kenichiro Yoshida, Executive Deputy President at Sony Corporation.

• Net loss is ¥126B, its sixth net loss in seven years.
• Sony expects to post net income of ¥140B this fiscal year ended March 31, 2016
• FY2014 Operating Income is ¥68.5B, FY2015 forecast is ¥320.0B
• Sony plans to issue an interim dividend of ¥10 per share in FY2015.

• CEO Kazuo Hirai has a plan to rebuild the company around its Hollywood studio, videogame division and image sensor unit
• CFO Kenichiro Yoshida: “We have reduced our sales costs by 20% and our corporate costs by 30% and we have stopped the bleeding in electronics, except for mobile”.
• Sony Corp. President Kazuo Hirai and seven other corporate executive officers will give up their bonuses for the fourth consecutive year to take responsibility for the company’s massive loss for fiscal 2014

• Gaming. Sony sold 14.8 million PS4 consoles in FY14, and is forecasting 16 million in FY15 Entertainment and Sound.
• Devices. Sony supplies CMOS modules for Apple iPhone6 and Samsung Galaxy S6.
• Mobile Communications (MC): focus on selling on a few specific regions high-value added models in order to emphasize profitability, smartphone unit sales will decrease from 39.1 million to 30 million in fiscal year 2015. Losses in MC segment are expected to fall from ¥6 B to around ¥39 B.
• Home segment (HE&S) recorded ¥1B operating income in FY2014 compared to ¥25.5B operating loss in FY2013.
• Television business, which is the part of HE&S, turned a profit of ¥8.3B in FY2014 for the first time in 11 years. TV business recorded ¥7B operating loss in FY2013. Before Sony’s TV unit lost ¥790B during 10 years. Sony expects to record a ¥5B profit in the Television business in FY2015.

4. SHARP CORPORATION

Sharp has reported financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 and its 3-year midterm plan on May 14, 2015:

• Sales contracted 4.8% to ¥2.790B ¥2.927B a year ago due to LCD TV (down 8.6%) and solar panels (down 38.3%) sales decline and small- and medium-size LCD panel price drop. Next year sales forecast is ¥2.800B. Sharp sold 7.03 M LCD TVs and 5.56M mobile phones in FY2014.
• An operating loss of ¥48.07B in FY2014 vs. ¥108.56B operating profit in FY2013. Sharp plans ¥80.0B operating profit for FY2015. Out of all Product Groups Business Solutions group recorded the biggest operating profit (¥31.4B) while Digital Information Equipment group recorded the biggest operating loss (-¥13.4B) for FY 2014.
• A net loss of ¥222.35B for FY2014, a third loss in four years. This compares with a net profit of ¥11.6B and earlier target of ¥30B loss.

Major components of FY2014 net loss were

• ¥77.7B impairment loss at Kameyama and Mie LCD plants,
• ¥58.7B allowance for difference between long-term contracted price of polysilicon and the actual market price (Energy Solutions),
• ¥29.5B LCDs inventory write-down,
• ¥9.9B restructuring cost of LCD TV business in overseas markets,
• ¥9.2B impairment loss at Solar plant in Sakai,
• ¥6.6B impairment loss at Fukuyama/Mihara electronic device plants recorded in 4Q.

• Sharp forecasts ¥180B net loss for FY2015.
• Excluding group companies, liabilities total ¥57T. This is more than total assets of ¥1.56T
• Sharp Corp’s market capitalization has shrunk to ¥355B from a peak of ¥3,000B in late 1999.
• No dividends will be paid for FY2014 and FY2015.

• Sharp plans to axe 5,000 jobs or 10% of its global workforce by voluntary retirement in Japan and downsizing of overseas bases.
• Sharp might seek a partner for its TV business in North America as it did in Europe by licensing its TV brand to Universal Media Corp.
• Sharp would reduce its capital to ¥500M from over ¥8B to cancel out its accumulated losses.
• Kozo Takahashi would stay as president, while chairman Takashi Okuda would be replaced by representative director Shigeaki Mizushima. Three other representative directors: Tetsuo Onishi, Norikazu Hohshi and Fujikazu Nakayama, will retire. Instead of four representative directors before, only one representative director, Yoshisuke Hasegawa, will be appointed effective June 23.

SHARP’s 3-year plan (FY2015-FY2017)

Photo: Kozo Takahashi, President at Sharp Corporation.

• Return to bottom lin e profits in FY 2016 (ending March 31, 2017).
• Operating profit forecast is ¥80B in FY2015 (2.9% of sales), ¥100B (3.4% of sales) in FY2016 and ¥120B (4% of sales) in FY2017.
• Net Sales forecast is ¥2.8T in FY2015, ¥2.9T in FY 2016 and ¥3.0T in FY2017.
• Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. will each inject ¥100B in a debt-for-equity swap by buying preferred shares.
• Japan Industrial Solutions, a corporate turnaround fund, will provide ¥25B in return for preferred shares and appointment of its Chairman, Masahiro Sumita, and its President and CEO, Shinichi Saito as Outside Directors at Sharp Corporation.
• Sharp will introduce five-company system with flat structure inside of each company from October 2015.
• Consumer Electronics:
  • focus on Japan and Asia,
  • enforcing operation in China
  • consider the possibility of business alliances for TV Business in Americas
  • termination of TV/consumer electronics businesses (shift to brand business) in Europe
  • termination of TV business in Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Sharp and Sony will have General shareholder’s meetings on June 23^rd, Toshiba and Panasonic on June 25^th, 2015.

Corporate Governance Code, developed by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), comes into effect in June 2015. Let’s see how it changes the discussion between top management of Japanese corporations and shareholders.

Abbreviations and terms explanation:

Fiscal year – Japanese fiscal year is represented by the calendar year in which the period begins; for example, the fiscal year from 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 is called FY2014.

M – “million”

B – “billion”

T – “trillion”

Write down – to decrease the book value of an asset.

Impairment loss – the difference between the fair market value and the book value.

Return on Equity (ROE) = Net Income / Shareholder’s Equity

Shareholder’s equity doesn’t include preferred shares.

Medium and Small Size Displays Shown by Sharp at CES 2014

The global TV market had a period of growth until 2011 reaching 255 million TVs sold that year, according to IHS Technology data. Then the market slowed to 238 million in 2012 and to 225 million TVs in 2013.

Smartphone market size continued to grow from 472 million in 2011 to 725 million in 2012 and 1,004 million smartphones in 2013, according to IDC.

Sharp’s “Kameyama-1” six-generation factory (1,500mm x 1,800 mm glass) started TV panels manufacturing in 2004, joined by eight-generation “Kameyama-2” factory (2,160mm x 2,460 mm glass) in 2006.

Following changes in the market, Sharp converted its Kameyama 1 & 2 plants to produce small and medium size panels while continued to use its Sakai LCD panel plant to manufacture big size panels for TVs.

Sharp plans small and midsize panels share to reach over 50% of all LCD panel output in fiscal year 2014-2015.

Kameyama 1 plant now produces panels using LTPS backplanes for Apple while Kameyama 2 plant makes small and midsize panels with IGZO backplanes.

At its booth at CES 2014 exhibition Sharp showed not only 60-70-80-90-inch LCD TVs but also small and midsize displays with IGZO technology.

IGZO-TFT was developed by Professor Hideo Hosono’s group at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) in 2003-2004.

IGZO-TFT technology was patented by JST and licensed to Sharp in 2012.

Sharp explains at its booth that IGZO Displays have:

• High Resolution
• Ultra Low Power Consumption
• Precise Touch Response

Smartphone Display

• 4.8” FHD display, 460 ppi

This display with IGZO technology is used in SHARP AQUOS Phone Zeta SH-06E that was introduced via NTT DoCoMo in Japan in 2013.

Tablet Displays

• 7” WUXGA display (1920×1200)

This 7” display is used in Sharp AQUOS Pad SH-08E (Docomo) & SHT22 (KDDI).

• 10.1” WQXGA display (2560×1600), 299 dpi.

The 10.1” display is used in Sharp tablet called Mebius Pad.

• 11.6” WQHD display, (2560×1440), 253 ppi

Laptop Displays

• 13.3” FHD display
• 13.3” WQHD display, (2560×1440), 221 ppi
• 14” QHD+ display, (3200×1800), 262 ppi

Laptops with Sharp displays

• Dell XPS15, 15.6” QHD+ (3200×1800), 235 dpi

• Fujitsu Lifebook UH series, UH90/M, 14” QHD+ display (3200×1800)

• NEC LaVie Z, LZ750/NSB, 13.3” WQHD (2560×1440)

4K Monitor Display (3,840 x 2,160)

• 31.5” QFHD display
• 15.6” QFHD display

Narrow Border LCD

• 12.5” WQHD, (2560×1440).

IGZO+MEMS 7” WXGA Display (1280×800)

• Ultra-low power consumption
• Excellent image quality and color
• Further reduces power when less color is needed
• Deliver clear, crisp images even in extreme conditions

The MEMS display stays bright and crisp even in sunlight. Extreme heat doesn’t affect the clarity and wide color gamut. MEMS display maintains blur-free motion even in extreme cold.

(*) IGZO – Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide, semiconducting material. IGZO TFT is used in the backplane of LCD displays.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IZGO

(**) MEMS – Micro Electro Mechanical System) display is a joint development of Sharp and Pixtronix, a subsidiary of Qualcomm.

 

Dolby 3D at CES 2014

At NAB 2012 exhibition Dolby showed TV prototype with Dolby 3D technology – result of its joint development project with Philips.

At NAB 2013 exhibition in Las Vegas on April 9, 2013 Dolby Laboratories and Royal Philips Electronics in association with Cameron-Pace Group (CPG) announced its partnership for using Dolby 3D format that includes video content production, encoding, broadcasting or OTT delivering (Vudu) and decoding and playback of glasses-free 3D content on TVs, tablets or smartphones. Dolby 3D technology allows watching 3D without glasses regardless viewer’s location. The technology is based on R&D originally done by Philips and combines an optical layer on the screen and sophisticated signal processing. In addition, it requires extra information beyond the left and right views, primarily a “depth map,” which is needed to generate multiple views.

Dolby 3D components are:

• Content tool plug-in
• Real-time metadata preprocessor
• Dolby 3D format encoder
• Dolby 3D format decoder
• Real-time depth extraction and enhancement engine
• Multiview rendering engine

Dolby 3D can be implemented using several different approaches, including lenticular and parallax-barrier optical layers, and the performance of the optical layer is up to each manufacturer. In order to carry the Dolby 3D logo, the panel must be at least UHD resolution, and transitions between viewing zones must be smooth. With a UHD panel, the effective resolution for each eye is 1080p.

Sharp and Changhong presented LCD TVs with Dolby 3D technology at CES 2014.

Sharp 85” 8K (7680×4320 pix) LCD TV with UV2A panel, 10 bits per each RGB and 300 cd/m2 luminance showed Life of Pi movie.

SHARP 85-inch 8K LED TV with Dolby 3D

Sharp panel uses a lenticular optical layer.

Changhong 65-inch Glasses Free UHD 3D TV

Changhong Glasses-Free 65” UHD 3D TV has BOE Technology Group panel inside. BOE panel uses a parallax-barrier optical layer. 2D mode is full UHD while 3D mode is HD.

Bendable & Flexible, Concave & Convex, OLED & LCD UHD TVs by Samsung, LG and Panasonic at CES 2014

Every year Samsung, the world’s largest maker of TVs and LG, world’s 2^nd largest TV manufacturer, surprise consumers with new TV technologies or screen sizes.

At CES 2012 they both were the only companies to exhibit 55” OLED TVs.

At CES 2013 they both were the only to show 55” Curved OLED TVs.

At IFA 2013 exhibition in Berlin Samsung and Sony presented “World’s First” 65” Curved LCD TVs.

So that customers got lost trying to compare LCD and OLED, Flat and Curved, Full HD or Ultra HD. Many of them couldn’t understand why somebody decided to manufacture Curved OLED or Curved LCD TVs while Flat LCD TVs are OK for home?

At CES 2014, as you might guess, both Samsung and LG delivered another new technology combination: Bendable TV, as Samsung decided to call it, or Flexible TV, as announced by LG.

LG unveiled “World’s First 77” 4K Flexible OLED TV” that can change its screen shape from flat to curved and back by pushing a button on a remote control.

If you look from the side you will see the range between “Flat Screen” and “Curved Screen” position.

Samsung put on its booth four OLED TVs under the header “Bendable OLED TV” not specifying the size, because it is “standard” 55-inch and not saying whether it is Full HD or Ultra HD.

It is possible to see the range between flat and curved shape. You never might imagine that TV can change its screen shape like fighter jets change its wings shape.

In order to differentiate further, under the big header “Samsung’s First to the World Innovation Technology” Korean conglomerate placed “Bendable UHD TV 85”

It is a real challenge to produce a bendable LED TV prototype but they could manage to do it for CES!

This is a curved shape view:

Since Panasonic put stress on B2B, not on B2C solutions, instead of concave bendable or flexible OLED TVs it exhibited 4K OLED Video Wave consisting of 3 convex and 3 concave 55″ OLED displays based on its printing technology.

It’s hard to imagine what would be the next? Just wait for the CES 2015 when the new dreams of Korean and Japanese engineers will become visible.

OLEDs development from IFA 2012 to 2013 International CES

IFA 2012

At IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) exhibition in Berlin in August-September 2012, only LG and Samsung exhibited same size 55-inch OLED TVs based on Organic Light-Emitting Diode technology.

LG Electronics has placed eight OLED TVs at the central entrance of its booth and added a beautiful lady in red to its cool electronics.

That was 55EM9600 model, 4 mm thin and 10 kg in weight.

The model was all-in-one (just add LG OLED TV in the end of each “World’s something” statement):

• The Ultimate Display
• World’s Best 3D
• World’s Largest
• World’s Slimmest
• World’s First 4  Color Pixel

with three design options:

• Versatile Floor Stand
• Floating Table Stand
• Perfect Wall Mount

Simply ABOVE AND BEYOND.

LG was so proud and aware of its technology that it was possible to see OLED TV not only at the front but also from behind:

This LG model got EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association) 2012-2013 Display Achievement Award.

Samsung Electronics, the World’s biggest manufacturer of AMOLED displays for smartphones, was also there with its 55-inch “Samsung OLED TV”, placing a dozen of OLEDs on its booth to greatly impress visitors by “The Biggest OLED TV Experience”:

Samsung marketing staff found different words to call one of its best products: “World’s First OLED TV”.

Jack Trout taught: “Differentiate of Die”.

Samsung’s great marketing team differentiated its OLED TV prototype with model name 55ES9500 highlighting the following features:

• Infinite Contrast
• Absolute Black
• Extreme Sharpness
• Crosstalk free 3D
• Multi-View

Multi-View means that two persons can not only view two different 3D contents using Mullti-View Bluetooth Active 3D glasses, but listen to different audio using headphones built in each pair of 3D glasses! This is an unbelievable experience!

CES 2013

Korean 55-inch FHD OLEDs

At International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January, 2013 Samsung showed the same OLED TVs as at IFA without any further improvement just stressing on ” A New Era in Picture Quality” and showing Multi-View functionality.

Main stage at Samsung CES booth was given to 85″, 95″ and 110″ Timeless Gallery UHD TVs.

LG Electronics has not only showed its 55 inch flat and curved OLED TVs at CES 2013 (of course, WRGB, Cinema 3D and Smart TV inside),

but added a Flamingo Style stand and announced launch of its 55-inch 4 mm thin OLED TV in America, Europe and Asia in the 1st quarter of 2013.

Japanese 56-inch 4K OLEDs

Japanese companies Panasonic and Sony have decided to partner in development of OLED displays since summer 2012.

They didn’t exhibited OLED TVs at IFA 2012 last fall and actually being behind Korean competitors in this technology they unveiled “one inch more” in size and four times more in resolution 56-inch 4Kx2K OLED displays.

Panasonic usually likes to compare the TVs at its booth like “2013 Plasma TVs vs. 2012 Plasma TVs” or “Plasma vs. LCD” by contrast, black level or response time. This time at CES they have placed OLED display prototype far away from the main booth exposition calling it “World’s Largest 4K OLED created by Printing Technology (RGB all-printing method). The display has 500 cd/m2 brightness, 3 M:1 contrast, it is 8.9 mm thick at thinnest part and has a weight of 12.4 kg.

Panasonic World’s Largest 4K OLED

There was no possibility to look from side or from behind to see if it is really slim.

Sony put its “The World’s First and Largest 4K OLED TV in a dark part of the booth because that was a prototype so visitors could not see the shape of the display, just a front screen.

While shooting from the side with a flash, you can have a picture showing a prototype that is not so beautiful and slim as LG’s 55″ OLED.

Sony stresses in its CES Press Release that this prototype uses the latest oxide semiconductor TFTs and Sony’s own “Super Top Emission” technologies. The OLED panel was jointly developed with Taiwanese company AU Optronics Corp. (AUO). Other features of the OLED prototype were not disclosed.

56″ 4K OLED TVs by Sony and Panasonic may be ready for shops sometime in 2015.

Both Samsung and LG showed “The World’s First Curved OLED TV” at CES 2013

We all remember CRT TVs with convex spherical screen and Sony Trinitron TVs with convex cylindrical screen. Then came pure flat Plasma and LCD TVs and manufacturers convinced us that flat screen form is the best.

At CES 2012 both LG and Samsung showed same 55-inch size OLED TVs. LG called its TV as “World’s Largest 3D OLED TV 55” while Samsung called its new sample as “Super OLED TV”. Neither LG nor Samsung started to mass produce and sell their 55-inch OLED TVs in 2012.

Not surprisingly, both Korean companies have simultaneously invented another “The World’s First” 55-inch TV to show at CES 2013: “The World’s First Curved OLED TV”! Because convex screens existed in the past, this time TVs have to be with concave screen!

Please, have a look at Samsung Curved OLED TV which has slightly curved screen and much more curved stand behind the TV:

LG Electronics added “3D” to the term “The World’s First Curved OLED TV” and placed not one, but three curved OLED TVs in a line:

LG has just started selling its flat 55EM9700 OLED TV in Korea at KRW 11 million becaming the first Korean company in the world to do so.

Let’s guess which OLED product both Korean companies will show this year at IFA in Berlin or next year at CES in Las Vegas?

Sharp shows OLED panels with IGZO backplanes at CES 2013

Sharp shows OLED displays with IGZO backplanes to visitors of Consumer Electronics Show being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, from January 8th till January 11, 2013.

These displays were first exhibited at Flat Panel Display International exhibition in Yokohama, Japan (Oct. 31 – Nov. 2, 2012).  The displays have been developed jointly by Sharp and Japanese R&D company Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (www.sel.co.jp).

The first OLED display has 13.5 inch diagonal and QFHD (3840×2160 pixels) resolution while the second display is flexible with 3.4 inch in size and 960×540 resolution. Both panels have pixel density of 326 pixels per inch (ppi).

These two displays use IGZO TFTs for the backplane and white OLEDs with RGB color filter in the front plane.

Here you can watch 68 seconds video by Mobile Geeks about 3.4″ Flexible OLED :

55 inch OLED TVs at CES-2012 in Las Vegas

Four years ago during CES 2008 in Las Vegas Sony unveiled its first model of 11 inch OLED TV, XEL-1 with 960×540 resolution and 3 mm depth. This model went on sale at $2500, but it soon has been discontinued because of a high price and panel longevity issues.

LG Electronics has debuted its 15” OLED TV model (15EL9500, 1366×768 resolution, 100000:1 contrast, 0.01 ms response, 1.7 mm thin) at IFA exhibition in Berlin in 2009.

This model went to the market with the initial price of $2700 – still pretty expensive.

At CES 2010 Samsung was the only company to show 30 inch AMOLED TV prototype that never reached shops shelves. OLED panel has been manufactured at Samsung 4.5 Gen AMOLED factory that was built to produce 3” AMOLED displays for digital cameras and 4” AMOLED panels for Galaxy S smartphones.

At IFA 2010 and at CES 2011 LG showed 31” OLED TV with passive 3D and 2.9 mm depth. Korean company promised to sell this model since March 2011 at $9000 but never did it. LG finally launched its first OLED panels plant (4.5 Gen) in Paju, Korea in April 2011.

In May 2011 Samsung Mobile Display’s 5.5 Gen plant started mass production of 4.3” AMOLED screens for Galaxy S2 and 7.7” panels for Galaxy Tab 7.7.

In order to mass produce big screen OLED TVs, 8 Gen or higher generation fab is needed. Samsung Mobile Display and LG Display are going to launch 8 and 8.5 Gen OLED factories in 2012. That’s why both Samsung and LG presented 55 inch OLED TVs at CES 2012.

Dr. Scott Ahn, Chief Technology Officer at LG, introduced 55 inch OLED TV as a Largest and Lightest TV at the LG Press conference in Las Vegas early in the morning on January 9^th.

Scott Ahn said: “One of the products that we showed last year, that really excited visitors, was our small OLED TV. This year we’ve got much larger version for you: this is our 55 inch OLED TV. Just 4 mm thin and weighing only 7.5 kg, this is world’s thinnest, largest and lightest OLED TV”.

During Samsung Press Conference on January 9^th Joseph Stinziano, Senior Vice President and Tim Baxter, President of Consumer Business Division of Samsung Electronics America introduced “the Ultimate TV, CES Best of Innovations Award Winner, the Samsung 55 inch Super OLED TV”.

Tim Baxter mentioned that Samsung has a rich history in developing OLEDs for products such as smartphones, digital cameras and tablets and now Samsung makes over 90% of all OLED panels worldwide. “It’s coming this year” – promised Tim Baxter saying about 55 inch Super OLED TV.

Joe Stinziano explained what means “super” in “Super OLED TV nickname”: Samsung Super OLED technology distinguishes itself by eliminating the need for color filter. Each OLED pixel consists of its own RGB sub-pixels that emit its own light”.

Tim Baxter proudly concluded: “Samsung led the transition from Tube to Flat, from Analogue to Digital, from LCD to LED and from conventional to Smart TVs. Now it likes to do it again with Super OLED TV.”

Here is a comparison of two Korean 55 inch OLED TVs:

Brand	Samsung	LG
Model	KN-55ES9000 (ES9500)	55EM9600
Booth Nickname	Super OLED TV	World’s Largest 3D OLED TV
3D type	Active 3D	Passive 3D (FPR)
Color Filter	no	yes: RGBW
OLED type	self-emitting RGB OLED subpixels	White OLED
TFT type	LTPS TFT	Metal Oxide TFT
Contrast	No info	100 000 000 : 1
Processor	Dual Core	No info
Connected TV	Smart Interaction	SMART TV
Camera	Camera with Facial Recognition	–
Control	Gesture Control / Voice Control	4 Mode Magic Motion Control
Thickness, mm	7.6	4,0 – 4.5
Weight, kg	12.0	10,0
OLED factory generation	5.5 Gen	4.5 Gen
CES Best of Innovations 2012 Award Winner	O	–
CNET Best of Show CES 2012	Honoree	Winner
Expected Retail Price	$8760 or 10 million won	$9000
Expected Availability	Q2-Q3 2012	July 2012

LG Electronics has a goal to become No.1 in TV sets manufacturing, that’s why they use the following chant to motivate its staff: “Be First, Do It Right, Work Smart!” They also probably use the Jack Trout’s motto “Differentiate or Die”. LG has been promoting passive glasses 3D vs. active glasses 3D technology used by Samsung and others. Now they use the different way to make OLED TVs: white OLED backlight with RGBW (red-green-blue-white) color filters vs. self-emitting RBG OLED sub-pixels used by Samsung.

LG OLED TV uses Metal Oxide TFTs while Samsung Super OLED TV uses LTPS TFTs.

As for contrast LG promises 100 million to one while Samsung doesn’t provide an exact number. Samsung says it uses dual-core processor for its Smart Interaction functionality, while LG doesn’t mention if it uses one core or dual core processor for its Smart TV platform.

Samsung has provided its Super OLED TV for “CES Innovations 2012” evaluation (http://www.cesweb.org/awards/innovations/default.asp) where this model has been awarded as a winner in Video Displays category.

It’s funny but Samsung Super OLED TV (KN55ES9000 (ES9500)) is described here as “3D Smart TV with Ultimate Picture Quality” without mentioning involvement of AMOLED technology.

Other honorees in Video Displays category were:

LG’s 55LM8600 (LED Cinema 3D Smart TV), 55LM9600 (Nano Full LED Cinema 3D Smart TV) and Plasma 3D Smart TV; Panasonic’s consumer plasma TC-P55VT50 and professional plasma TH-65VX300U; Sharp’s 80” AQUOS LC-80LE632U.

Samsung 55 inch Super OLED Smart TV became a winner of CES Hot Stuff Award (http://www.cesweb.org/awards/hot-stuff.htm) decided by editors of Stuff magazine.

“We’ve seen OLED TVs before, but only minuscule ones. Now Samsung and LG are going head-to-head with ludicrously slim, amazingly bright and devilishly clever OLEDs at a lounge-tastic 55in across. The Samsung just edges it, though, as it also has facial recognition and is one of the first TVs with upgradeable innards. Vital, because this TV will not be cheap’ – concluded members of CES Hot Stuff Award editors’ panel.

LG’s OLED TV has won another award: “CNET Best of CES” in TV category and Best of Show Award (http://www.cesweb.org/awards/bestOfCES.asp). The model has the following description here: “The first 55-inch OLED TV announced as shipping in 2012, and the only one to get an actual model number and public ship date (“Q3”), the 55EM9600 promises the superb all-around performance of OLED (absolute black levels, ultra-fast panel and excellent viewing angles) in an ultra-thin panel”.

How about Japanese consumer electronics companies? Are they going to challenge Samsung and LG in OLED battlefield?

Panasonic plans to build 8.5 Gen OLED factory in Himeji, Japan, Sony is reportedly going to buy big screen OLED panels from LG, while Sharp plans to use its 10 Gen fab for making cost-effective 60-70-80-90 inch LCD panels for TVs and doesn’t say anything about focus on OLED. LCD technology has almost won the price-performance war with plasma and now we will be witnesses of LCD vs. (AM)OLED competition over a period of next five years.

Abbreviations used:

CES – Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV, USA. www.cesweb.org

IFA – Internationale FunkAusstellung in Berlin, Germany. http://b2b.ifa-berlin.com/en/

AMOLED – Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode.

LTPS – Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon, a transistor type used in the flat-panel display industry.

TFT – Thin-Film Transistor.

Gen – generation of LCD or OLED panels factory. Generation is defined by the size of mother glass.

4K Display Resolution Technology at CES-2012 in Las Vegas

One of the hot topics at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (CES-2012) is 4Kx2K resolution technology.

Frankly speaking LG has displayed “World’s Largest 84″ Ultra Definition 3D TV” at CES-2011 but that time it was not so eye-catching.

This time, at CES -2012, a number of major consumer electronics manufacturers has shown products with 4K technology.

LG exhibits again “World’s Largest 84″ Ultra Definition 3D TV” but with slim bezel and elegant stand. This time the model name is announced as 84LM9600 and in addition to 4K display resolution it shows 3D picture with passive 3D glasses, has Edge-LED backlight, Smart TV features and 4 Mode Magic Motion remote control. There is no exact price yet and this model should appear for sales in the U.S. the 3Q 2012.

SHARP exhibits a step-forward prototype: 85 inch LCD TV with 8Kx4K display resolution and shows 4K resolution based on ICC-4K technology. ICC stands for Integrated Cognitive Creation and this technology is co-developed by Sharp and I-Cubed Research Center. John Herrington, President of Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America promised to introduce Sharp TVs with 4K technology this year.

SAMSUNG also follows the trend and shows 70″ 4Kx2K Ultra High Definition LED LCD prototype.

PANASONIC decided to show not the biggest 4K display but world’s smallest and thinnest 4K2K LCD panel (20.4 inch size, 3.5mm thin). This is an IPS-Pro LCD panel with 8.29 million pixels or 216 pixels per inch.

TOSHIBA exhibits 55 inch glasses-free 3D LCD TV with 4K resolution and local dimming LED backlight to be available in shops in 1Q 2012 at the price of about $10000. Taiwanese LCD panel manufacturer AU Optronics is going to supply 55 inch 4K2K panels for this Toshiba TV.

JVC presents GY-HMQ10, World’s First handheld 4K Camcorder that shoots video using H.264 variable bit rate codec and it will be available in the U.S. at retail price of about $5000 in March 2012.

SONY exhibits 4K Home Theater projector and BD player BDP-S790 with 4K upscale feature.

What shell we expect in support of 4K display technology? 4K broadcasting, 4K movie streaming and Blu-Ray discs with 4K video. “Men in Black III” on BD with 4K resolution? First in Cinema Theaters, then at home. Dreams may soon come true.