In a joint venture Toshiba and Canon developed the upcoming SED display technology I reported on a little while back.  It had been initially presented to the public back in September 2004 at CEATEC which is a Japanese consumer electronics trade show.  The new technology was promised to be cheaper, thinner and even more energy efficient than LCD. 

 

The Toshiba / Canon coalition announced last Wednesday that they would begin production of the new display in July of 2007.  They said we can expect to see them in stores by the fourth quarter of next year.  The interesting thing about this story is that the press release from Toshi-Can was all happy, happy, Joy, Joy about the announcement.   But it really represents significant delays, delays that make the rest of the consumer electronics industry cynical about the announcement.

 

Koichi Hariya is an analyst from Mizuho Securities that has doubts that SED will ever make it.  He cites the decline in prices for competing technology and how a steady decline in cost has changed the landscape of the market since the 2004 demonstration at CEATEC.  The average price of a 40” LCD panel has dropped 36 percent since ’04.  The price drops aren’t expected to stop, analysts predict a decline in price around 25 percent for both LCD and Plasma for the next several years. 

 

Sharp and Matsushita have both announced new manufacturing facilities to go up soon in Japan.  These plants will give the companies even greater power to offer their products at even more competitive prices. 

 

Don’t hold your breath waiting for a new SED TV.  That seems to be what the industry is saying.  But the good news is LCD and Plasma will continue to drop in price.