Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. said it formed a joint venture with Taiwan-based Tatung Co. to design, market and service GE-branded high-definition televisions.

The venture, General Displays & Technologies LLC, also will work with NBC Universal to develop an open platform capable of delivering Internet and other digital content directly through the TV, Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric said today in a statement. GE is a 49 percent equity stakeholder in GDT.

GDT will market the GE-brand televisions around the world under a licensing agreement, the company said. Three models are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2009, as well as separate box to move content from the Internet onto the TV, Marc McConnaughey, chief executive officer of GDT, said in an interview.

``This has been in the works for GE for over two years,'' he said. ``They were originally looking at a licensing agreement, but GE decided it really needed to be more involved.''

GDT is also planning to introduce an improved series of TVs later next year, which will have Internet connections built in, McConnaughey said. The venture aims to capture as much as 10 percent of the $200 billion global television market.

GE exited the television set business in 2004, ending a 17- year licensing agreement with Thomson SA, said Peter Weedfald, president of GDT North America. GE, which is selling its appliance unit and plans to spin off the consumer and industrial division, received about 9.2 percent of last year's sales of $172.7 billion from its NBC Universal division.

GE fell $1.20, or 4.6 percent, to $24.95 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company's shares have declined 33 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Dentch in New York at cdentch1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 23, 2008 17:36 EDT