Sony plans 2009 Euro OLED TV debut

Bigger sets than its 11in screen, hopefully

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

14th August 2008 08:18 GMT

Sony will bring its skinny OLED TV family to Europe next year, so says Japanese newspaper Nikkei, though it's unclear if the move will see the arrival of the 11in XEL-1 OLED TV or a follow-up model.

Certainly, by the time Sony OLED TVs appear in Europe the XEL-1, which was launched in Japan in October 2007 and in the US in January 2008, will be well over a year old.

Sony's XEL-1: bigger version coming to Europe, we hope

The XEL-1 may only be 3mm thick, but it's still only an 11in screen - not exactly big by LCD and plasma standards, though it is an HD screen. It's also bloody expensive: ¥200,000 ($1827/£979/€1228) and $2500 in the US.

We'd hope that Sony has a larger model in the works. It's promised to release a 27in screen by May 2009, and it's a good bet this is the screen that'll become Sony's first OLED TV sold in Europe.

According to market watcher DisplaySearch, only 200,000 OLED TVs will be sold in 2009. Sony is investing ¥22bn ($201m/£108m/€135m) in the development of OLED TVs.

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