Sony, which has been positioning OLED and field emission display (FED) technologies for next-generation displays, has elected to focus on OLED and will spin out the FED R&D team as a separate company with the majority of investment coming from a "carve-out" fund.
Sony has been developing FED technology since the late 1990s. Sony allied with Candescent Technologies Corp. from 1998 to 2001. And after the termination of that partnership, Sony continued single-handed R&D. Its R&D team has completed a 20-inch prototype, according to a Sony spokesman.
Sony intends to review the feasibility of FED technology in 18 months. If potential applications are proposed by FET, Sony may decide to re-absorb the company. But that is considered unlikely because if FET develops a high quality display, it would compete directly with OLED, which Sony has positioned as mainstream.
