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The owners of Panasonic are set to slash the cost of plasma TVs while also launching 4 new models including a 65″ screen. They are also set to lift production.
Panasonic owners Matsushita, who are one of the world’s largest consumer electronics makers has said that it is launching four new plasma televisions including a 65-inch high-definition model. The 65-inch TV will be priced at half the retail price of the existing 65-inch plasma TVs sold by Panasonic. The three new other plasma TVs with screen sizes of 37-, 42- and 50-inches
‘We believe that our VIERA plasma TV is becoming a nationally recognised flat TV brand and with the introduction of four new models, we want to make an extra push to sales,’ said Shunzo Ushimaru, director in charge of corporate marketing division at Matsushita. ‘And by offering our flagship PDP TV model at affordable prices, we also want to nurture the large-screen flat TV segment further,’ he said. To meet growing demand for plasma TVs, Matsushita said it has increased its monthly plasma display panel production to 170,000 units from the start of August from 150,000 units previously. Masaaki Fujita, director in charge of plasma TVs, said the company has also decided to put the first PDP line of its new Amagasaki plant into operation from October, about two months ahead of schedule.
The company said it is also considering to fasttrack the start-up of a second PDP line from November 2006. Both production lines can make 12,500 plasma display panels a month. Matsushita said it has sold 340,000 plasma TV sets in the first quarter this year or 1.9 times more than what it sold in the same period last year. The company recently raised its year to March 2006 global plasma TV sales forecast to 2.1 mln units from 1.7 mln units and increased its full-year revenue projection from this product to 410 bln yen from 350 bln. Ushimaru shrugged off latest data showing declining sales of plasma TV.
