Matsushita and Panasonic parent Matsushita are to extend their flat-panel display development deal.

The two Japanese giants said today they will work together on “superthin” plasma panels for TVs and combine their efforts to make such screens more energy efficient.

Hitachi will also buy Matsushita-made glass panels and use them in the production of its plasma TVs from April 2009 onwards. That will costs its own production operation ¥40bn ($382.6m) in lost sales, but the company claimed that won’t impact its current earnings forecast.

The two said they would also work more closely on LCD TV development and production – something they already do through their jointly owned IPS Alpha Technology venture. But they did not go into details.

Both plasma and LCD plans are about increasing the ability of both firms to stay competitive in a world where plasma and LCD TV screens are falling in price and so many suppliers are punting products to consumers. Plasma makers are finding it particularly hard to keep up with the runaway success of LCD.

That’s why Fujitsu, the first company to introduce plasma screens, ditched the TV technology back in December 2007.

In March 2008, Pioneer said it was getting out of plasma production and would instead buy in panels from another supplier. The following month, it named Matsushita as that partner.

Toshiba Matsushita Display is about to mass-produce OLED screens that could be used for a wide range of portable devices, according to a report from Japan’s Nikkei BP. The joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita (Panasonic) is claimed to be producing as many as one million 2.5-inch organic screens per month starting from Autumn of 2009 and would be the first Japanese company to do so.

The development would be primarily targeted at cellphones, GPS navigators, and other handhelds, the newspaper says, though no specific products have been announced. The screen size is also commonly used for portable media players such as the iPod classic and Zune 80. Continue Reading…

Panasonic will not bring a 37-inch OLED TV to market by 2011 as reported on Tuesday, according to the company. Panasonic executives are instead hinting its OLED TVs will be sold to consumers closer to 2015, although they are officially keeping tight-lipped about specific timelines, saying only that research and development is ongoing in Japan.

Recent reports have Panasonic mass-producing OLED panels at the Himeji production facility of its subsidiary IPS Alpha, which is slated to open at the beginning of 2010. The manufacturers’ latest response to the rumors has at least confirmed that the Himeji facility will eventually produce OLED panels. Another plant, based in Mobara, was also reported to get dedicated OLED production lines, though the company made no mention of that facility.

Matsushita will officially be called Panasonic this October, and the names have been used interchangeably to date. [source Tech-On]

Just last week, Reuters in Japan confirmed that Sony is to take a one-third stake in Sharp’s $3.5 billion LCD panel plant, which is set for completion by March 2010.

Before, that we reported that Pioneer has opted to stop making 42-inch LCD screens was to buy them instead from Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial or Hitachi.

This week, we have news of another alliance.

Samsung is currently finalising talks with Sony to jointly build a new LCD production line, a Samsung source told Reuters.

Sony may also cooperate on another, bigger line for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels used in flatscreen TVs, according to the source, who wanted to remain anonymous.

They would not say who would be the partner in this venture.

Continue Reading…