Hitachi has said that it expects the price of its plasma display TVs to fall by around 20 percent during the next few month. This is less than its previous 30 percent forecast.
Hitachi Vice President Makoto Ebata told reporters he expects strong sales of plasma TVs of more than 40 inches, which are less threatened by competition from LCD TV makers that tend to be strongest in TVs smaller than 40 inches. “Panels are getting bigger and demand for high-definition plasma TVs is strengthening,” Ebata said at a new flat panel factory in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan. “We are aimimg for 30 percent of the global market for high-definition plasma TVs.”
One Japanese Company that is set to struggle as prices drop is Pioneer Electronics. They are trying to position themselves as delivering superior technology at a time when many Japanese plasma manufacturers have little difference between models. In recent days Pioneer have been spruiking their plasma manufacturing capability despite the fact that last year they lost more than $1 billion dollars.
Hitachi was the world’s fifth-largest seller of plasma display TVs in 2005, followed by Matsushita Electronics Industrial owners of Panasonic, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and figures from research firm DisplaySearch show.
