HDTV information resource - HD TV plasma television

January 26, 2007

Well, it looks like those companies involved in delivering SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) TV technology will be slugging it out in the courtroom, with the legal wrangling between the SED TV developers (Toshiba and Canon) and the SED IP holder (Nano-Proprietary) set on a collision course with a jury trial.

 
Nano-Proprietary (NNPP) appears to have won the latest round the SED legal saga, with Toshiba announcing earlier in January that it was pulling out of the SED Inc. joint venture it formed with Canon in 2004; Canon and Toshiba stated that the decision was reached based on the assumption of prolonged litigation pending against Canon in the U.S.

 
Although SED will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon starting from January 29, 2007, it does not mean Toshiba is out of the picture.  The two companies agreed Canon will carry out the SED panel business independently in order to facilitate the earliest possible launch of a commercial SED television business, and Toshiba will still market SED TVs.  Since Canon does not have production facilities to make the SED TVs, the company indicated that it will initially outsource its own assembly to Toshiba.

 
Atsutoshi Nishida, president of Toshiba was quoted in a December Nikkei Business report as saying the company’s SED production facility in Himeji, Japan was on schedule. In addition, in October, 2006, CNET reported that SED had made some manufacturing breakthroughs that would make SED TVs competitive in the market with LCD TVs.

 
Nishida indicated that Toshiba does not plan on competing with LCD and PDP TVs in the market, as he considers the rival technologies as commodity applications, according to Nikkei Business. Toshiba will instead, at first, focus on niche professional market segments, such as the broadcasting industry, and its SED TVs will be limited and pricey, the paper stated.

 
Canon also noted that mass production will not start any time soon, and there will be only a limited number of SED TVs in the market this year. However, unlike Toshiba, Canon plans on targeting the consumer TV market. According to Richard Berger of Canon, the company envisions SED TVs as being the information window for the home, and in line with such a view, Canon aims to expand into the home market.

 
Just before Toshiba pulled out of the joint venture, Reuters reported that Canon and Toshiba may delay or even drop their plans to build a $1.7 billion plant to volume produce the TVs. Although media reports cited the patent litigation as a reason for the delay, Merrill Lynch published a report saying it believes there are reasons other than patents worries that are responsible for the delay. The financial firm pointed out that it would be difficult to make SED profitable in the competitive flat-panel industry. And without Toshiba as its partner, Canon will now be footing a larger portion of the bill needed to set up a SED production infrastructure.

December 27, 2006

Toshiba’s long-awaited SED TV will not be appearing at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
According to Toshiba and its partner, Canon, SED displays will provide a better picture than LCD or plasma HDTVs. Toshiba also claims that the companies have managed to cut the manufacturing costs so that the TVs won’t cost much more than similarly sized LCDs or plasmas.
SED TVs, however, have been stung by a series of delays. Toshiba and Canon started working together on SED in 1999 and said the first TVs would hit retail shelves in 2005. In October, Toshiba pushed out the release again, saying the first SED TVs would come out in late 2007.
Toshiba did not state whether the cancellation at the show will affect the release date of the first SED TVs. A Toshiba representative declined to explain the reason for the cancellation, but a note sent to people with appointments to see the SED TV at CES said it wasn’t due to technical issues.
“The reason is neither a technical nor business issue, but we are not allowed to disclose details due to confidentiality obligation,” the note read. “Toshiba further believes that the issue will be resolved soon, and then we will be able to come back to the U.S. for a 55-inch SED demo.”
Analysts and competitors say that the latest delays have hurt the chance for SED to secure a place in the market. Prices for LCD and plasmas HDTVs have been dropping rapidly over the past few years and often faster than expected, while sales have climbed.

October 3, 2006