Plasma Bites the Dust...Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market

eHDMI · 11-17-2006, 07:20 AM

Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market

Hitachi has said that it is considering getting out of flat screen TV's. The comments came as Hitachi announced that it is attempting to double its operating profit margin over the next four years.

Japan's biggest electronics conglomerate has struggled in the plasma market despite having a superior product and like fellow Japanese plasma manufacturer Pioneer the Company is seriously having to consider whether the effort is worthwhile up against LCD TV.

Hitachi has said that it would consider pulling out of the three businesses, as well as looking for partnerships and acquisitions...

Source

fryet · 11-17-2006, 12:01 PM

Plasma, in my mind, is the best way to watch HDTV, especially since it is currently the only way to get a screen with a 72 Hz refresh rate. I doubt it will be going away any time soon.

BobY · 11-17-2006, 12:22 PM

Wow! It's hard to believe an article could be so biased in such a short space. As it says, Hitachi is getting out of the *Flat Screen* market, not just Plasma but LCD as well. The reason they are getting out is because they are not competitive and hardly have products considered "superior" by most--I've never seen them make the top 5 in any review.

If Pioneer is getting out of Plasma, uhm, why did they just introduce a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line 1080p Plasma? There likely will come a point where Plasma will go away due to price pressure from LCD's, but not before there is some replacement *light generating* technology (like SED).

There's no reason LCD's couldn't support 72Hz or 120Hz refresh--I believe some do.

davecramer74 · 11-17-2006, 03:19 PM

ya i read that arcticle somewhere. they said they were getting out of the flat tv business period. As for plasmas going somewhere, doubt it. I personally have an LCD, but ive seen plasma's that look very nice too. My buddies got a 50" panasonic that smokes about any tv ive seen.

µCOM-4 · 11-24-2006, 12:31 AM

SONY is also getting out of the desktop LCD business.

Type A · 11-25-2006, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by µCOM-4

SONY is also getting out of the desktop LCD business.

Wow, really? Not doubting you, but do you have any links? Last I read Sony consider their lcd line their 'future', and thus I am surprised by this statement. You were specific that it is their "desktop" lineup, but it still seems strange, as they make a damn fine desktop panel (albeit pricey), and there will always be a market for the smaller sizes.

µCOM-4 · 11-26-2006, 02:09 AM

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/79199

No more desktop displays by end of this year. They say there is little profit from LCDs. Makes sense because SONY usually price their LCDs higher than other makers, but since there are so many cheap LCDs nowadays very few people are willing to pay the higher price with little to no image quality improvement. If you check reviews of desktop LCDs, you rarely see SONY on the top 10. The reason why their LCDs for home theater are selling so well is because they do look better than most of the competitors so they can sell at a higher price. Desktops are a different story though. For desktops you always see DULL, NEC, Viewsonic, Samsung etc. at the top.

Type A · 12-03-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eHDMI

Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market

Wow, youd never know it by the number of tv spots they are running for their plasmas

Seems like twice as many plasma commercials as even Pioneer.

Razor05 · 12-03-2006, 06:06 PM

Personally IMO I think plasma's PQ looks better overall than a LCD's, given that you can get both in 1080p now.

Type A · 12-03-2006, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor05

Personally IMO I think plasma's PQ looks better overall than a LCD's, given that you can get both in 1080p now.

Really? How much are these 1080p plasmas going for?

Steeb · 12-03-2006, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Type A

Really? How much are these 1080p plasmas going for?

~$8000 MSRP for the 50" Pioneer one. It's a beautiful piece of equipment.

Type A · 12-03-2006, 09:32 PM

Yeah, kinda my point, it BETTER beat the living shit out of anything on the market for that kind of scratch!

BobY · 12-03-2006, 11:24 PM

Bear in mind that most of the 1080p LCD's are much smaller screens than the 1080p plasmas, so it's hardly a fair comparison price-wise. 50" and above 1080p LCD's are pretty pricey too (and these are the first generation 1080p Plasmas, so they will certainly be coming down in price).

fryet · 12-05-2006, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Type A

Yeah, kinda my point, it BETTER beat the living CENSORED out of anything on the market for that kind of scratch!

Yes, plasmas do cost more than LCD, and they also produce a better picture. So long as they have a better picture than LCD, there will be a market for plasmas. Now if LCD can close that gap and do everything that a plasma can do, THEN you can start to talk about plasmas going away. Until then, you can probably expect plasmas to dominate the high end market.

stchman · 12-05-2006, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fryet

Yes, plasmas do cost more than LCD, and they also produce a better picture. So long as they have a better picture than LCD, there will be a market for plasmas. Now if LCD can close that gap and do everything that a plasma can do, THEN you can start to talk about plasmas going away. Until then, you can probably expect plasmas to dominate the high end market.

I was at the BB Magnolia store and they had the new 50" Pioneer 1080p plasma that costs $8k. They had a 46" Sony Bravia XBR3 and it looked better than the Pioneer at 1/2 the price. IMO the LCD flat panel has a better looking picture than a plasma.

11-17-2006, 07:20 AM	#1
eHDMI Vizio 37 LCD Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,647	Plasma Bites the Dust...Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market Hitachi has said that it is considering getting out of flat screen TV's. The comments came as Hitachi announced that it is attempting to double its operating profit margin over the next four years. Japan's biggest electronics conglomerate has struggled in the plasma market despite having a superior product and like fellow Japanese plasma manufacturer Pioneer the Company is seriously having to consider whether the effort is worthwhile up against LCD TV. Hitachi has said that it would consider pulling out of the three businesses, as well as looking for partnerships and acquisitions... Source __________________ Discount HDTV Accessories HDFury

11-17-2006, 03:19 PM	#4
davecramer74 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bay Area California Age: 35 Posts: 1,011	ya i read that arcticle somewhere. they said they were getting out of the flat tv business period. As for plasmas going somewhere, doubt it. I personally have an LCD, but ive seen plasma's that look very nice too. My buddies got a 50" panasonic that smokes about any tv ive seen. __________________ Vizio 42" LCD Phillips 50" plasma

11-24-2006, 12:31 AM	#5
µCOM-4 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 699	SONY is also getting out of the desktop LCD business. __________________ My name is David Manning.

11-26-2006, 02:09 AM	#7
µCOM-4 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 699	http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/79199 No more desktop displays by end of this year. They say there is little profit from LCDs. Makes sense because SONY usually price their LCDs higher than other makers, but since there are so many cheap LCDs nowadays very few people are willing to pay the higher price with little to no image quality improvement. If you check reviews of desktop LCDs, you rarely see SONY on the top 10. The reason why their LCDs for home theater are selling so well is because they do look better than most of the competitors so they can sell at a higher price. Desktops are a different story though. For desktops you always see DULL, NEC, Viewsonic, Samsung etc. at the top. __________________ My name is David Manning. Last edited by µCOM-4; 11-26-2006 at 02:20 AM.

12-03-2006, 06:06 PM	#9
Razor05 HD = 65 beautiful inches Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 3,296	Personally IMO I think plasma's PQ looks better overall than a LCD's, given that you can get both in 1080p now. __________________ Panasonic TH-65PZ850U Sony KDL37XBR6 Panasonic TH-37PX50U Cambridge Audio Azur 640R & 740C Paradigm Studio 60's, 20's, CC-590 & Seismic 12 Panasonic DMP-BD35 Toshiba HD-XA2 & A35 Motorola VIP1200 Monster HTFS1000, PB2100 AA 1154a MW2 LE Xbox 360 & Halo3 LE + HD-DVD GT: Razor59 Sony PS3 slim GT:Razor_59 Sony PSP

11-17-2006, 12:01 PM	#2
fryet High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA Age: 38 Posts: 632	Plasma, in my mind, is the best way to watch HDTV, especially since it is currently the only way to get a screen with a 72 Hz refresh rate. I doubt it will be going away any time soon.

11-17-2006, 12:22 PM	#3
BobY What's all this, then?... Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,197	Wow! It's hard to believe an article could be so biased in such a short space. As it says, Hitachi is getting out of the Flat Screen market, not just Plasma but LCD as well. The reason they are getting out is because they are not competitive and hardly have products considered "superior" by most--I've never seen them make the top 5 in any review. If Pioneer is getting out of Plasma, uhm, why did they just introduce a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line 1080p Plasma? There likely will come a point where Plasma will go away due to price pressure from LCD's, but not before there is some replacement light generating technology (like SED). There's no reason LCD's couldn't support 72Hz or 120Hz refresh--I believe some do.

12-03-2006, 09:32 PM	#12
Type A 1080 Optical Supporter Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Panama City, Fl Age: 38 Posts: 2,724	Yeah, kinda my point, it BETTER beat the living shit out of anything on the market for that kind of scratch! __________________ Mitsubishi HC3000U HD projector Dual Optoma 106" screens Harman Kardon AVR-7000 receiver Bose 901 VI, 301 IV, VCS 10 Bose AM-6 Series III Sony STR-DG600 receiver JVC GR-HD1 HD camcorder Xbox 360 Pro / PS3 40 Gig HD DVD 0 / Blu Ray 15 Games 18 / Games 2 Gateway 901x HTPC (modified) Sling Box Pro w/HD Connect Cable Dish 211 receiver w/Absolute HD pack HP Pavilion dv-6000 laptop (HTPC2GO) Link-Theater Gallery - 100,000+ views Link-55 Restoration Updated 6/21/08 Last edited by Type A; 12-03-2006 at 09:35 PM.

12-03-2006, 11:24 PM	#13
BobY What's all this, then?... Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,197	Bear in mind that most of the 1080p LCD's are much smaller screens than the 1080p plasmas, so it's hardly a fair comparison price-wise. 50" and above 1080p LCD's are pretty pricey too (and these are the first generation 1080p Plasmas, so they will certainly be coming down in price).