LG may exit plasma TVs in weak economy
updated 04:25 pm EST, Thu February 26, 2009
LG May Quit Plasma TVs
LG may be the next to discard plasma TVs, company vice president Lee Gyu-hong says. The executive has told Kyodo News that a sustained poor world economy would make it unprofitable to keep developing and selling the more expensive display technology. If no recovery seems likely, Lee estimates that plans to exit plasma would be made public before the end of the year.
The potential move would mark the largest in a series of high-profile departures or shrinking efforts relating to plasma, including consolidation between Hitachi and Panasonic as well as the well-publicized Pioneer withdrawal. Plasma has lately struggled as the technology remains expensive and usually limited to larger screens, while LCD has steadily become more cost-effective at larger sizes and is starting to produce image quality more comparable to plasma. [via Whirlpool]
