Panasonic To Terminate Plasma TV Production In Order To Curb Losses
Panasonic Corp is considering exiting from the plasma screen market as part of a major restructuring over the next three years, a news report said Monday.
The embattled consumer electronics producer plans to terminate production of plasma panels at its main plant in the western Japanese city of Amagasaki around the financial year starting in April 2014, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing any sources.
[pullquote_left] “We are considering a number of options regarding our TV business. But nothing has been decided yet,” a Panasonic spokesperson said. [/pullquote_left]
A quick look at Panasonic’s books however show that it’s hardly a surprising move. The company has struggled in recent years, with the TV division failing to turn a profit for the past five quarters. It’s thought that Panasonic will instead refocus its efforts on the automotive and enterprise divisions, as well as in-flight entertainment systems, an area where they are proving more successful.
There’s been suggestion that Panasonic would be pulling plasma production to a halt for some time now, with rumours suggesting the company had stopped pumping money into its plasma research and development centres some time ago.
It is still widely argued that plasma is the better display technology for picture quality, specifically with fast motion and black level representation. It could be argued that if Panasonic exits the market it dominates, it will sound the death knell for plasma TV technology full stop.
[Nikkei, Reuters]
