Panasonic has closed its LCD panel factory and will manufacture only OLED TV and 4K tablet panels at the site from now on, according to reports.
Pocket-lint claims to have learned that the manufacturer has already shuttered its LCD factory, and will be buying in its current requirement for LCD panels from LG instead.
This is no sign of trouble at the Japanese tech giant, though. Indeed, the former LCD factory will be put to very good – not to mention forward-thinking – use.
Apparently Panasonic will be using the site to produce the OLED panels for its recently announced 56-inch 4K TV.
The TV market has been waiting for the full-scale adoption of OLED technology for years now, but production issues – including price and yield considerations – have proved prohibitive. This move indicates that Panasonic is ready to enter mass production of its own OLED product, and suggests that its initial batch of panels will be significantly cheaper than the competition.
The former LCD TV panel factory will also be used to produce the panels for another of the devices Panasonic announced at CES this week – its 20-inch Windows 8 tablet. The device’s panel may not be based on OLED technology, but we’d argue that a huge Ultra HD tablet is pretty innovative nonetheless.
Of course, Panasonic won’t be leaning exclusively on OLED and bought-in LCD panels – it’ll still have its plasma TV business. Plasma panel production is handled elsewhere, and so will continue regardless.
However, the company believes that OLED will eventually replace both LCD and plasma as the standard TV panel technology.
Via: Pocket-lint
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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