Sony will likely delay the launch of its new ultrathin organic light emitting diode (OLED) television, according to a report by Wall Street Journal.

Once on track for the end of 2009, the larger Sony OLED TV is only slated to launch in 2010 at the earliest, because mass producing the new displays would exacerbate losses at its TV division. Its losses are blamed partly on decline in TV business due to sagging global economy.

OLED displays are thinner, consume less power, offer better color contrasts and respond faster to moving images than LCDs. In 2007, Sony introduced the 11-inch XELL-1, and in December 2007, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer indicated that Sony was in the process of developing new OLED products.

A delay of this level would have little impact on Sony's core health but would be a symbolic loss to rivals Samsung and LG, which may seize this opportunity to expand their OLED market share.