View Full Version : Pioneer drop out of TV market
Pioneer To End TV Production, Spin Off DVD Development-Nikkei
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Pioneer Corp. (6773.TO) will pull the plug on its loss-ridden television business and shift its DVD player operations to a new venture with Sharp Corp. (6753.TO) in a sweeping overhaul, The Nikkei reported in its Thursday morning edition.
The company had been planning to end in-house production of plasma panels by the end of March and outfit its TVs with Panasonic Corp. (6752.TO) panels instead. Faced with worsening profit margins, however, it has decided to end TV development and production altogether.
Pioneer will idle its lone domestic TV factory in Shizuoka Prefecture sometime this year. Factories in the U.S. and Europe are already slated for closure.
Sales of Pioneer TVs will continue for the time being. The company has not yet decided what to do when inventories run out.
Meanwhile, Pioneer will spin off its DVD player operations, which are equally steeped in losses, to a new company to be set up with Sharp as early as this spring.
The company plans to eliminate several thousand of its roughly 40,000 groupwide jobs in the year ending March 2010. Pioneer is likely to post a consolidated net loss of more than Y100 billion for the year ending this March, wider than the Y78 billion loss it forecast earlier.
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Indeed. Trouble is, they're very much high-end niche market, and that's where the recession is biting hardest.
It's certainly a shame to see the best in the business going south. I'd hoped one day I might sell my old Pioneer plasma and get a Kuro, but that isn't to be. A lot of the Japanese tech firms are in one hell of a mess at the moment.
That's the trouble, they restricted themselves to the high end which was ok when everyone was feeling flush 18 months ago.
I wonder if they'd have lasted much longer had they produced a more budget range of screens.
Flibster
08-02-2009, 00:47
Time to get that 60" Kuro then....
A Place of Light
08-02-2009, 01:09
Sad news tbh.
Psymonkee
08-02-2009, 02:01
D'oh :(
What happens if it breaks after 1 year - will they still handle repairs? :o
The Sale of Goods Act doesn't go away just because the manufacturer has - just be sure to pick a retailer that has a chance of still being around in a few years.
leowyatt
08-02-2009, 09:26
You do wonder if their TVs were a little more evenly priced they might not be leaving the market so soon.
Greenlizard0
09-02-2009, 11:43
Does this mean in essence we're going to see heavy reductions in Pioneers in a few months?
Depends on stock levels. I wouldn't expect to see much discounting though, beyond the usual discounting suspects.
I really liked the Kurio 40" model. This was full 1080p for about £800 and I was tempted. However the following week last year the price went up £200. After seeing my Toshiba for £450 ish that looks cracking, I just couldn't justify the extra.
Especially as I've probably only watched Terrestrial TV a handful of times since xmas. Hence forth it shall be projectors all the way with a low spec flat TV for normal viewing.
I'm in the same situation with my Pioneer plasma. It's been turned on half a dozen times since christmas, but I haven't actually watched anything on it in all that time. In truth, I shoudln't even have bought it (especially since I got done by the shop that sold it to me to the tune of £1000 :/). That's all history though and the shop went bust soon after.
Most of the time my 27in Dell monitor does everything from gaming to TV watching to actually using a PC. :)
LeperousDust
09-02-2009, 15:43
Hoping there are massive cuts, parentals are after another TV now and this could time perfectly, now age old question of plasma or LCD (and the fact they definitely won't notice any difference :p).
That's the trouble, they restricted themselves to the high end which was ok when everyone was feeling flush 18 months ago.
I wonder if they'd have lasted much longer had they produced a more budget range of screens.
It was my fault :(
Look at the facts - I take ages to decide which TV to buy and immediately after I do buy one the following happens:
1. VAT gets cut to 15%
2. There's a hue price reduction
3. Finally, Pioneer shut down TV production.
:(
LeperousDust
09-02-2009, 16:42
Quick buy before anything worse happens, you can still fix everything! ;)
A Place of Light
10-02-2009, 01:56
It's true, phykell is indeed "Betamax-man".
In days gone by, novices would seek out this wise and fair old sage for guidance on which electrical goods to purchase. The stone tablets that we found detailing these rituals included these writing.
"and lo, phykell did recommend to the novice a television manufacturer...for it was the very same manufacturer who had tempted a young phykell into purchasing their wares. The novice, aware of Lord phykells reputation is Betamax-man listened carefully and purchased from the competition instead.....and it was good.
Here endeth the lesson."
Conclusive proof, IMHO.
Ha! Stout yeoman of the bar, etc. :D
Nearly completed GTA 4 and no screen retention of the radar yet as Divine promised :cool:
I love my screen now - obviously had real worries about screen retention/burn but all unfounded as others told me numerous times.
Flibster
11-02-2009, 16:39
Other half has given me permission for a 60" Kuro in my playroom.
Actually... I didn't say what size - she'll be expecting a 37 or 42 to appear... ;)
Other half has given me permission for a 60" Kuro in my playroom.
Actually... I didn't say what size - she'll be expecting a 37 or 42 to appear... ;)
:cool:
My original budget was nowhere near what I ended up paying out (after all, I was only really buying it to play Wipeout HD on), but having seen the 60", if my room had been bigger...
In HD it looks fantastic, even real close up.
Nearly completed GTA 4 and no screen retention of the radar yet as Divine promised :cool:
Gooooood. I'd never have heard the end of it would I if it did burn? :p
Gooooood. I'd never have heard the end of it would I if it did burn? :p
:D
Just to confirm that its fate is sealed... :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7885175.stm
A Place of Light
12-02-2009, 19:22
Dear Panasonic, please close the door behind you.
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