"We want to be a leader in the overall flat panel market not just the plasma market" said Paul Reid, Director of Panasonic's Consumer Electronics Group. "A key element in Panasonics push to take on the likes of Samsung and Sony is their multimillion dollar investment in the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
At a gala launch at Sydney's Wharf 8 Panasonic along with several 2008 Australian Beijing Olympians rolled out their 2008 consumer electronic offerings. Among the new Panasonic range are nine Full High Definition (FHD) 46-inch FHD Plasma TV, and five new LCD models – including 37-inch and 32-inch FHD LCDs.
Their strategy according to Read is to position their over 50" plasma TV's as being ideal for watching movies and TV in a big room while their LCD range is being positioned as ideal for brightly lit rooms.
Reid said "We believe that the choice of TV technologies is application based – how and when you will be watching the TV will differ from room to room from building to building. In a well light environment and in smaller screen sizes, LCD is the ideal solution. We believe the IPS Alpha panel offers superior LCD picture quality."
Reid said Panasonic would continue to in LCD, saying construction of their new IPS Alpha LCD panel plant to begin in August 2008, with operations commencing in January 2010.
