Sony and Panasonic Join Forces to Take on South Korea in Next-Gen TVs.

Sony, Panasonic Join Forces for Low-Cost TV Sets

The technology giants plan to jointly develop organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels and modules - a lower-cost production option- for televisions and other large-screen displays. Sony and Panasonic will exercise each of their OLED core technologies to develop the panels.

In a joint statement Monday, the companies announced that they are aiming for mass production by 2013, using Panasonic's printing-based OLED technologies.

Sony and Panasonic have seen big losses recently, and today's announcement is an effort to play catch up with Samsung, which has taken the lead, according to USA Today.

Japan rivals Sony, Panasonic tying up in next-generation displays for TVs

Long-time Japanese rivals Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are working together to develop next-generation TV panels called OLEDs in a reversal of decades of rivalry as they try to catch up with South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

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Fitch Ratings said the Sony-Panasonic tie-up underlined "the fall of Japanese tech companies," as such a tie-up was previously "unthinkable."

"Japanese OLED investment is better late than never," said Alvin Lim, associate director at Fitch. "While consumer demand for OLED is still unproven, without investment Japanese manufacturers could become stranded in the TV market should this technology become mainstream."

Forget the TV I'll take the girls.