Pioneer To Get Out Of Plasma

Speculation is mounting in Japan this morning that Pioneer is set to get out of Plasma production altogether and that on Friday they will report losses of over $1 billion.

CE industry Analysts say that Pioneer is set to report losses of over $1 billion dollars and that they will  slash plasma production altogether. Originally the Japanese Company had planned to produce 720,000 plasma panel TVs for the last 12 months but have now revised the plan to 480,000 amid poor sales. During the last two quarters Pioneer have seen a 39% decline in plasma sales despite the plasma market rising 62%.

Late in 2007 Pioneer announced a capital injection by Sharp.The alliance will allow Pioneer to procure Sharp’s LCDs with the Company tipped to announce that are set to sell Pioneer branded LCD TV’s on Friday in Japan.

Accoring to the Taipai Times Ema Suzuki, a spokeswoman for the Tokyo-based maker of high-end audio equipment, said the firm’s plasma display business is suffering from sluggish growth and that it is reviewing the business.

Her comments came as the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday that Pioneer is finalizing plans to withdraw from producing plasma panels as early as this year and procure panels from Panasonic, which has the world’s largest plasma market share. Kyodo news agency carried a similar report.

The spokeswoman said no decision had been reached as of yesterday, adding that Pioneer president Tamihiko Sudo will unveil business plans on Friday at a news conference.