It seems that FED (field emission display) technology is not going to be the successor of LCD and plasma. Toshiba gave up on FED and SED, respectively, as early as January 2007. The company stopped a joint venture with Canon, which also seems to have more or less stopped development in that area (at least there were no FED or SED-related news from Canon in the last couple of months).

Now FED gets the Sony axe, too.

Sony said last summer it wanted to buy a plasma TV factory from Pioneer in Japan. The factory was supposed to be rebuilt into a FED display factory, but Sony has abandoned the plan now. In addition, the company will close FED Inc., a spin-off entity entirely focused on FED production. FED Inc. was founded late 2006 for $26 million.

Sony began experimenting with FED technology as early as 1998 and showcased a 13-inch prototype TV at SID 2001. But even though Sony said it plans to boost FED production last July, FED was never commercialized. And it’s doubtful that any other company will dare to mass-produce large-size FED displays now.