Sony to collaborate with Samsung for LCD development

Entertainment giant Sony is planning to expand their collaboration with the South Korean tech giant Samsung. They aim to improve the quality of the LCD Screens and get the production cost down to make them available for cheap in the retail market. They had first started collaborating in 2004 in a venture worth around USD 2 Billion. The venture is called S-LCD and they started shipping their panels in April.

The venture has Sony procuring panels from Samsung and then adding their own technologies on it like semiconductors, backlights and other key components to manufacture LCD TVs. Now, Sony would increase their inputs in the procedure of development of the LCDs by offering ideas on how to produce a higher quality panel at a lower cost. The basic panel technology would still come from Samsung.

A company spokesperson said about this new approach by the companies: “We will be working together to improve panel quality and cut manufacturing costs. But we are not talking about conducting joint research and development of the panels.” Sony is due to unveil a new restructuring plan next month that is expected to include further steps to shore up its TV operations. They plan to step up their operations to compete with Sharp and Matsushita.