Are Plasma TV's On Their Way Out?

[LoveTheHD]

Hi all, new to the boards. I must say, that I love my Samsung Plasma. I knew when we bought it that manufacturers were moving towards LCD, but we couldn't go wrong with the price or quality. It's made me become a TV watcher again! LCD definitely has it's advantages, but I can't say I regret the purchase...not at all.

[Revko1]

Man I sure hope not, I have Pio 50, and I've seen pro calibrated lcd, and I can't seem to find the their appeal...Maybe I've been looking at the wrong ones...What do I know, my next large TV will be a kuro 60'' once the price are right.


Revko1

[lcflyer]

I was suprised to also hear that Pioneer is getting out of the plasma business but I am an authorized Pioneer distibutor and received a message from my rep yesterday and he said that rumor going around is false. The president of Pioneer said Pioneer has no plans of completely eliminating the plasma. However, they have already discontinued the PDP4280HD and PDP5080HD both 720p models as with the Elite PRO 950HD. Pioneer will concentrate on 1080p plasma's for now. They will have LCD's some time next year in 37" and larger.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by lcflyer

I was suprised to also hear that Pioneer is getting out of the plasma business but I am an authorized Pioneer distibutor and received a message from my rep yesterday and he said that rumor going around is false. The president of Pioneer said Pioneer has no plans of completely eliminating the plasma. However, they have already discontinued the PDP4280HD and PDP5080HD both 720p models as with the Elite PRO 950HD. Pioneer will concentrate on 1080p plasma's for now. They will have LCD's some time next year in 37" and larger.

Actually they officially announced it in Japan yesterday. They're dropping Plasma production. Their stock dropped significantly at the announcement.

[deacongreg]

We`ll just have to wait and see.

[rex]

New Kuro line due this summer, see: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/displays/index.html
Pioneer Executive VP Russ Johnston said today that his company will continue ‘engineering game-changing plasma technology and producing proprietary components,’ but will no longer manufacture their own displays. From now on, Pioneer will outsource the production of its plasma models, but the company will be vigilantly involved in making sure that its highly rated TV lines will stay at the same high level.
More importantly, this means that we'll be able to see the through the final results of the much anticipated Project Kuro vision, with infinite contrast options. But while they maintained that the next version of the line would come in on time this summer, no promises were made beyond that.

Analysts say Pioneer's strategy of selling "high-end" TV's failed because consumers are unwilling to pay the same premium for TV's that they pay for other luxury goods. As Lotus remarked, their stock dropped 5% after the announcement last Friday, see: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1205...googlenews_wsj

Hopefully, this means 1080p Kuros will become more affordable for those of us who are not in the "luxury goods" market niche.