Pioneer has confirmed rumors that have flared this week and will be dropping out of the TV business altogether.
The move follows the $1.44 billion USD loss the company has taken in the past year on its LCD and Plasma operations. Two factories will be shut down immediately and the company will completely phase out TVs by the Q1 2010.
Additionally, the company said it will cut costs by cutting 10,000 jobs, mainly in Japan.
In the TV business, Pioneer is best known for its high quality Kuro plasma TVs which enjoy high contrast ratios and color replication. Back in March however, the company said it would halt Plasma production to focus on LCD production.
Result for: plasma tvs
Panasonic Corp. has revealed plans to introduce new slimmer and more energy-efficient Plasma televisions to the Japanese market in a few months time. The company has slashed the thickness of its Plasma televisions by about three quarters. Additionally, the new Plasma sets will only consume about half the electricity of models currently available on the market.
While more expensive and power hungry than LCD, Plasma is a newer display technology that is believed to have plenty of room for improvement. Panasonic is the largest producer of Plasma TVs in the world, ahead of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics. The improvements to its product line-up are part of an ambitious Panasonic goal to double its combined sales of LCD and Plasma TVs to 15.5 million units in the year beginning April.
At around 1-inch in depth, a new 50-inch model will be offered from Panasonic in Japan starting in April, with a price tag around 600,000 yen ($6,685). A 54-inch model will be priced higher at 700,000 yen. The new models will make it to the North American market in Summer. The 50-inch model consumes an estimated 260 kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
Result for: plasma tvs
According to a new email sent out yesterday, the bankrupt retailer Circuit City has dropped the price on many of their items, finally giving some good sales on items they must liquidate before March 31st.
The retailer is dropping the price of all plasma TVs by 25 percent, all LCD TVs by 20 percent, 20 percent off most digital cameras and 40 percent off “car audio” systems.
That of course does not mean that there are many good prices, with some still selling for higher prices than Amazon even with the discounts.
Some smaller sized TVs are selling for a good 20-30 percent discount compared to any online retailer, so it may finally be time to head over to your local Circuit City in search of a deal.
