Panasonic to Cease Plasma TV R&D Operations?
Panasonic to Cease Plasma TV R&D Operations?
An article published by Kyodo News suggests that Panasonic is just about ready to pull the plug on its research and development projects as far as the company's plasma TVs are concerned. The Japanese news agency added that the Viera manufacturer is likely to cease its plasma R&D operations by March 2013, the end of its current fiscal year.
As reported in May, the struggling CE firm was hit by declining sales figures of its plasma televisions, with 41 percent fewer plasma sets sold between April 2011 and March 2012 compared to the previous financial year. Faced with diminishing profits, Panasonic has little choice but to scale back on its LCD and plasma production capacities. To make ends meet, the company is willing to relinquish some of its assets as well, in the hope of raising US$1.34 billion in capital by offloading some of its property and shares. Panasonic is expected to announce losses of up to US$6 billion for 2012.
We've also received confirmation from LG that the Cinema 3D TV makers won't be updating their plasma line-up next year, although nothing's been confirmed on Samsung's part as yet. The world might not end in the near future, but recent events do portend that this might just spell the beginning of the end for plasma displays in the days ahead.
Source: Kyodo News via HDTVtest