Sony Corp. and nine other domestic companies have decided to jointly develop — with government support — technology by 2013 to mass produce large energy-efficient organic flat-panel screens.
The project coordinated by the quasigovernmental New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, or NEDO, aims to boost Japanese companies' competitiveness in the organic electroluminescence (EL) panel market, where they are waging an intense battle with South Korean rivals, including Samsung Electronics Co.
The flat-panel TV market is now dominated by liquid crystal and plasma displays, but electronics makers around the world are racing to develop slimmer, lighter and larger screens, and huge development costs are weighing down Japanese makers.