Looking to strengthen its foothold in the LCD-TV industry, Sony Corp has made agreements with Toshiba, to continue improvements in LCD-TV manufacturing. The first agreement between Toshiba and Sony has the two leading television makers working together on the improvement of LCD-TVs; Toshiba has agreed to trade components and chips with Sony for the present LCD-TV generation. Further, there exists a tentative arrangement between Sony and Samsung pertaining to the eighth generation, line two LCD televisions.

The proposed partnership looks promising and if the partnership is successful, there will be work conducted on tenth generation LCD-TVs by Samsung and Sony. There is a proposal for a plant to be built in Seoul that would be responsible for the manufacturing of LCD-TVs; a plant very much needed due to the current high demand for LCD-TV products. There is an issue however that must be duly noted; Sony and Sharp are already involved in an agreement, one that makes the agreement between Sony and Samsung pale in comparison.

Sony and Samsung currently have an arrangement; the latter arrangement has Samsung manufacturing LCD-TV panels needed by Sony. Further, currently some of the LCD-TV panels Sony gets from Samsung are manufactured in Taiwan. The deal between Sharp and Sony is far sweeter because of what each of the manufacturers brings to the table; Sony has a broad customer base, and Sharp has been purposely developing a customer base for its LCD-TV panels. Sharp also intends to establish the biggest LCD fabrication by 2010 – in the generation ten factory. Both companies will certainly benefit from the aggressive selling nature of the other in the television industry.

Sony and Sharp agreed to the beginnings of a joint venture that would generate a new $3.5 billion plant located in Japan. The joint venture between Sony and Sharp was to consist of an exchange of the newest LCD-TV frames and panels. There are some signs that the arrangement between Sony and top electronics companies have not ended because customer demand for LCD-TVs is already extraordinarily high.

Beginning in April 2008, at the turn of the financial calendar, Sharp intends to purchase LCD chips manufactured by Toshiba; in return, Toshiba intends to return the favor by purchasing Sharp’s manufactured LCD panels in sizes 32 inch and beyond. Due to the agreement made by the two television manufacturing giants, in two years time, fifty percent of Sharp’s LCD television chip purchases will be conducted with Toshiba, and some forty percent of Toshiba’s LCD panels will be manufactured by Sharp. This is no surprise and the timeline is well figured – after Toshiba announced plans to withhold the manufacturing of OLED televisions until 2010, a week later the agreement between Toshiba and Sharp was announced. Sharp announced its reasoning for entering into agreement as the need to improve on LCD TV features; Sharp seeks to minimize the thickness of LCD-TVs, reduce the weight of the LCD-TVs being produced, to improve resolution, quality, color, to minimize power consumption, and most of all, to increase the lifespan of LCD-TV products.