Panasonic Officially Announces End of Plasma Production

The company has finally confirmed the termination of its plasma TV line.

After months of speculation, Panasonic has officially announced that it is indeed ceasing production and development of plasma televisions. Production will end in December 2013 and several of the company's factories will terminate their business operations by March 2014.

Panasonic cites heavy competition from LCD displays and declining demand for plasma units in the marketplace as the reasons behind its decision. As previously detailed in an earlier report from Reuters, the company has been suffering heavy financial losses due to its lackluster PDP business. According to research firm DisplaySearch, plasmas only made up about 6 percent of 2012 global TV shipments, while LCDs accounted for 87 percent.

In their official announcement, the manufacturer went on to state, "Until now, due to the superiority of the picture, Panasonic's PDPs have received high appraisal and there has been firm demand from customers worldwide. However, due to rapid, drastic changes in the business environment and a declining demand for PDP in the flat panel display market, it was judged that continuing the business would be difficult and a decision was made to stop production."

Along with the end of production in December, Panasonic also plans to cease plasma sales by March 2014. Until then, the company's highly rated VIERA plasma displays remain available, and continue to be among the top consumer televisions on the market. The highly rated TC-P50ST60 is currently on sale for under $1,000 on Amazon. Despite this very unfortunate setback, the company is now looking toward new development of its display business.

Source: Panasonic

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