Japan's cash-bleeding companies Sony and Panasonic are reportedly looking to join forces to produce OLED TVs in a bid to claw back market from South Korean rivals, a report said Tuesday. The firms want to speed up the development of large-screen organic electroluminescence (OEL) televisions, which consume less power and offer a sharper picture than conventional flat panels, the Nikkei daily said.

"The content of the report is not announced by Panasonic, said Kyoko Ishii, senior coordinator of global corporate PR for Panasonic. "Panasonic will continue its development and verification of OLED based on the result of research the company has been doing at its laboratories. The timing of the commercialization of OLED has not been decided yet."

Sony declined comment.

Samsung and LG plan to sell 55-inch OLED televisions by the year-end.

Sony had been also rumored to be in talks with Taiwan's AU Optronics on a possible tie-up to produce OLED televisions, according to a last month's report.

Working with AU would help both Japanese companies spread development costs.

Sony's new CEO last month suggested he was open to cooperation in new TV technologies as he outlined a turnaround strategy for his company.