Mitsubishi drops LCD TVs, focuses on 73-inch and larger
updated 05:00 pm EDT, Sun March 20, 2011
Mitsubishi drops LCD TV to do laser and projectors
Mitsubishi finished its week with word it would bow out of the LCD TV business. The company will focus on 73-inch and larger sets and should include both projection sets as well as LaserVue TVs. The goal is to retake the top spot as the "'large screen' company," Senior VP Cayce Blanchard said.
The shift in strategy would see Mitsubishi consolidate. Both the Braselton and Ontario offices handling LCD TVs would close and merge operations at the company's Irvine office. Production would go on in the company's Mexicali, Mexico plant, but jobs would be lost at the factory as it shifted towards the bigger screens.
Mitsubishi has regularly been one of the smaller contenders in TVs and faced cutthroat competition in the sizes viewers usually buy, at under 60 inches, from much larger rivals such as LG, Samsung, and Sony. LaserVue promises better quality and slimmer profiles than projectors without the cost of an LCD or plasma. Few companies participate at these sizes and don't have a direct equivalent.
