Following recent insider reports suggesting Pioneer would drop plasma production and seek to purchase third-party panels for its flat-screen TV business, the Tokyo-based company has revealed that is had been in such talks with Matsushita Electric, which produces Panasonic-branded consumer devices.
Pioneer Corp. abandons plasma display production in favour of third-party purchases. Credit: Pioneer.
“We have judged that maintaining the cost competitiveness of plasma display panels, or PDPs, at projected sales volumes will be difficult going forward,” confirmed Pioneer in an official statement regarding its decision.
Pioneer’s move to staunch the bleeding of its plasma display market performance comes as the company faces fiscal year losses of some $146 million USD in connection with the restructuring of its plasma display panel (PDP) business. The company had initially forecast around $58 million USD in fiscal profit.
According to an Associated Press report, Pioneer’s abandonment of plasma manufacturing in favour of an outside supplier (likely Matsushita) will result in a “one-time cost” of $185 million USD. However, despite the further monetary gut-punch, Pioneer believes it will experience a profit return for the end of the fiscal year 2010.
Although once one of the world’s forerunners in plasma display development, Pioneer has fallen foul of its rigid focus on premium quality, high-cost plasma televisions, which has subsequently left it trailing the likes of LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Matsushita Electric/Panasonic.
Pioneer’s decision to bring in its plasma display line from an outside source mirrors a similar deal it struck in 2007, which saw Sharp Corp. signed on to deliver LCD displays for Pioneer’s liquid crystal display televisions.
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