According to a Digitimes report, flat-panel TVs such as LCD and Plasma displays will drop in price by over 20 percent in 2009.
The price gap between mid-sized and large-sized TVs will also decrease, says the report.
The average price for a 37-inch LCD HDTV will drop to $500 USD by the end of the year, from $670 USD at the end of 2008. Lower end 32-inch models will drop in average price to under $400.
Entry-level 42-inch models will see their prices frop to $580 USD by the end of the year, and sources say the steep price declines for the model will turn the 42-inch segment into the market mainstream by 2012.
Result for: plasma displays
Pioneer has decided the plasma TV market is to competitive and will be halting all internal production of plasma displays. The company will not be leaving the industry however and will instead get plasma panels from Matsushita.
Currently pioneer is the 5th largest plasma TV producer and is losing money on its plasma division. Actually, Pioneer is “expected to report a loss of 10 billion yen or about $96 million USD for the fiscal year.”
Although not confirmed yet, Pioneer will supposedly close down one of its largest Japanese plasma manufacturing plants and focus the other two on assembling TVs. Pioneer stopped internal production of LCDs last year and teamed up with Sharp in a similar deal to this recent one.
Adde Mitsushige Akino of Ichiyoshi Investment Management, “This is an excellent development [Pioneer stopping plasma production]. Pioneer could have chosen another way and stepped up its plasma investment despite the fact that the business is bleeding red ink, but it’s a wise step to decide against that. A quicker decision would have been even better, though.”
Result for: plasma displays
Panasonic has announced that it plans to incorporate brand new, miniature plasma displays in cellphones and other small media devices.
The low-voltage plasma technology will be used in phones using AT&T’s “Mobile TV” service which will “provide full-length television content and sporting events from major US channels, due to launch in May.”
At a press event in the States, Mark Balsama, national marketing manager for Panasonic said: “I have a very exciting announcement to make…”
“For nearly a decade, Panasonic’s engineers have been secretly working on a thin, lightweight low-voltage compact Plasma display … We will be able to incorporate miniature plasma displays into both consumer and business telephone products starting this fall. They will rival OLED displays for brightness, contrast and thinness, and can be manufactured for much less money.”
“We’ll be able to put plasma in Cell phones, business phones, consumer phones, corded phones, cordless phones, and even door intercom monitors and fax machines. We will revolutionise the consumer electronics business, as Panasonic has done many times before.”
Additionally, Robert A. Perry, the new senior VP of Panasonic added: “Our plasma expertise and our large-scale, efficient manufacturing will allow these new small Panasonic plasma screens to replace LCDs in many applications - gasoline pumps, automated teller machines, camera viewfinders, MP3 players, vending machines, automotive displays, digital photo frames, appliance touch screens and even the little pop-up screens on printers”.
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