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Panasonic To Stop Making LCD Panels For TVs (nhk.or.jp)

Posted by BeauHD on from the end-of-an-era dept.

AmiMoJo quotes a report from NHK WORLD: Japanese electronics maker Panasonic says it will stop making LCD panels for televisions, giving way to fierce price competition. The pullout from TV LCD manufacturing follows the company's withdrawal from plasma TV production 3 years ago. They say they will continue to manufacture LCD panels at the plant for products other than televisions, such as medical equipment and cars. They say the company will keep making Panasonic-brand televisions, using panels supplied by other manufacturers. After Panasonic pulls out, Sharp and its Taiwanese parent firm Hon Hai will be the only producer in Japan.

29 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, how the mighty have fallen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Pearl Harbour didn't work out, so we got you with tape decks."

    In only 25 years, Japan's world leadership in electronics has cratered. Good work, LDP.

    1. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by cloud.pt · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I hate replying to 0-modded comments, but this one deserves a honourable mention: they really haven't really fallen, they just peaked. Actually Japan is the very first country in this world to experience the future. And by future, I mean the socioeconomic and cultural consequences of "civilizational endgame", for lack of a better expression. Japan was the first country to achieve what many will follow. The real problem here is that unlike other crysis, overflow population combined with ageing and the very fact that the human society values the preservation of individual life is the perfect storm for any given nation to just stop outputing anything. It is a scenario where both capitalism and comunism will try, like many a time before, to seize democratic power, but this time they won't be able to do any "final measure" against it because there is absolutely no pollitically correct way to influence the populace into extreme measures. I know I know, just planted a philosophical bomb in an LCD thread, but it's late at night and I felt inspired for nonsense. It does make sense though.

    2. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 2

      Of course it is easier to advance and experience the future when you don't have a military to support and the US gives large sums of money to Japan to keep bases there. Yes, I know that the reason they don't have a military is because of the terms of surrender post WWII with the US. But that doesn't change the reality that not spending billions per year on defense allows it to be reinvested elsewhere.

    3. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by c · · Score: 3, Informative

      Of course it is easier to advance and experience the future when you don't have a military to support

      You might want to catch up on current (i.e. within the last 60 years) events...

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      Log in or piss off.
    4. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 2

      If you read to the end of that wiki article you would find that Japan spends 1% of GDP on defense with most of it going to personnel costs. That is one of the lowest in the world. By comparison, the over the past 20 years has spent between 4.6% to currently 3.5%. For the US, that amounts to $829B which is greater than the federal deficit. If the US spent 1% of GDP on defense, then there would be no deficit and an additional $600B for US citizens to spend on goods and services. Think how that would spur the economy and create jobs.

      So yes, technically, Japan does have a military. They just don't spend much on it as it's sole purpose is to defend against invasion and for internal security. In short, their military is the equivalent to the US's National Guard.

      Note: data for the above obtained from linked wiki page, usgovernmentspending.com and data.worldbank.org

    5. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by suupaabaka · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This topic is really interesting to me. I had a professor a few years ago when I was doing postgrad that thought exactly that; that the Japanese had reached the capitalist endgame. He went on to explain (at great length) that the Japanese were still clinging to the original model of capitalism, and the only way forward was high tech communism.

      What he meant wasn’t the communism of the Soviet era, but a communism in which menial work is left to robotics and AI with humans having the freedom to engage in creative pursuits, invention and leisure. He believes (and his arguments were quite convincing) that the Japanese have a HUGE supply productive potential with very little demand, and that their current socio-economic model is the product of not seeing the forest for the trees.

    6. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by tsotha · · Score: 3, Informative

      So yes, technically, Japan does have a military. They just don't spend much on it as it's sole purpose is to defend against invasion and for internal security. In short, their military is the equivalent to the US's National Guard.

      Japan has a big advantage in that it's an island nation, so it doesn't need to spend much on ground forces. Even with China's growing strength, Japan still has the most powerful navy in the Far East and enough air power to defend the home islands. Japan lacks logistics capability, so it can't project power like the US or Russia. But that's okay; the Japanese people don't seem to have much interest in rebuilding the empire.

    7. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What he meant wasn’t the communism of the Soviet era, but a communism in which menial work is left to robotics and AI with humans having the freedom to engage in creative pursuits, invention and leisure.

      Yep, the industrialization/machines replacing human labor is what got Marx thinking.
      If wealth is created without humans working then capitalism is not a fair way to distribute that wealth.

    8. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by c · · Score: 2

      If you read to the end of that wiki article you would find that Japan spends 1% of GDP on defense with most of it going to personnel costs. That is one of the lowest in the world.

      ... which still puts it in the top ten by total expenditures; I wouldn't say it's anything to scoff at. I'd argue that it's an absurdly high number for a country which doesn't do (much) peacekeeping or projecting power outside of it's borders.

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    9. Re:Oh, how the mighty have fallen by cloud.pt · · Score: 2

      I agree with your teacher's opinion about a form of open communism, where no ideological suppression exists and the tendency is actually to foster it through free time instead of long work hours for human beings. Communism in essence has always been a great idea (but never EVER succeeded in practice) and allied with such goals make it one of the most mesmerizing utopias we could hope for. But I believe the human Wille zur Macht will forever lurk behind the scenes and widespread well-being is something we, as a "pack", are not genetically/biologically prepared for.

  2. sad by ganjadude · · Score: 2

    panasonic plasma displays were by far much better then LCD was pretty angry when they stopped that. now LCD???

    --
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    1. Re:sad by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      plasma production stopped because LCD screens were so much cheaper that it was no longer competitive. Likewise, they are stopping LCD screens for the same reason. They can't compete with the cheap screens being massed produced by others. They are staying in the niche markets where quality matters more than price, but how long is anybody's guess.

      More importantly, since there is now only one major producers of LCD screens, how long before prices start going up?

    2. Re:sad by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      They are staying in the niche markets where quality matters more than price...

      They are staying in the niche markets where the margins are much higher.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:sad by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 2

      No, niche markets have nothing to do with quality. It's all about the price.

      Except their niche is medical and military grade, so there probably are specs they need to live up to.

    4. Re:sad by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 2

      No no, you are both wrong. They are staying in markets where they make more profit........

      Actually, that's not true. It's not about the volume of profit, it's about the return on investment. Making $1M in profit from a $2M investment (cost) is a 50% ROI. Making $2M in profit from a $5M is a 40% ROI. Even though the latter makes more profit, it is a poorer ROI and thus a poorer decision. Most companies would choose the 50% ROI and take the extra $1M they didn't have to spend and invest it. In short, One shouldn't chase profits, but instead ROI.

  3. Just make a dumb TV by Faw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really just want a dumb TV. No android, no apps, no speakers just inputs.

    1. Re:Just make a dumb TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I really just want a dumb TV. No android, no apps, no speakers just inputs.

      So... a monitor?

      Sure, a monitor... but with all the extra niceties that come with a TV. Built-in tuner, remote, ability to properly handle video refresh rates properly, lots of inputs/types of inputs, and even the increasingly unnecessary audio passthough can be helpful in some cases. Also, while speakers aren't necessary, a headphone jack would still be nice, because a cheap & easy way to set the correct audio delay on your receiver is to listen to the audio from your receiver and TV at the same time. Do it once and never use it again.

    2. Re:Just make a dumb TV by quenda · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Monitors lack TV tuners. So I myself would say No.

      What's a TV tuner? Oh, you mean that DVB box between the HTPC and the antenna on my roof that has not been used in years, but we keep around in case of an extended internet outage? 99% of free-to-air is advert-infested reality TV and reruns. Anything decent I can get from their websites on demand, or "other sources".

      And even if you do want DVB, what sort of Nerd uses the built-in tuner on a dumb TV?

    3. Re: Just make a dumb TV by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nerds don't necessarily pay cable bills. There are lots of other priorities.

      Lots of us would rather order stuff from Digi-Key or Element 14 with that money. Or upgrade the stepper motors in the mill.

      You don't call out nerds for not watching enough teevee.

    4. Re:Just make a dumb TV by ITRambo · · Score: 2

      When cable went out for a day. The picture was sharper than cables' HD signal, until trucks drove by, then it froze.

    5. Re:Just make a dumb TV by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      The problem with using a dumb monitor as a TV is the lack of image processing. TVs heavily process images before displaying them, to account for differences between colour gamuts (especially with SD material), hide noise and compression artefacts, improve motion etc. PC video playback apps do some of that too, but generally speaking a video played back on a PC monitor will look inferior to the same video on a reasonably good TV.

      Sources like DVB boxes and your HTPC don't do much or any processing, so will not look as good on a dumb monitor. What you really want is a dumb TV that has all the image enhancement but none of the smart features. Or, just buy a smart TV and don't connect it to your network.

      Or do connect it and firewall everything except YouTube and Netflix. That's what I did.

      --
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    6. Re:Just make a dumb TV by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      Monitors lack TV tuners. So I myself would say No.

      Then that would be an incredibly awful TV!

      It has no speakers, and inputs only. So, OK, RF goes in, it displays pictures, but you're stuck watching silent films forever.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  4. Well that made broadcast monitor buying easy by sunderland56 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There were only two manufacturers of professional TV monitor panels: Sony and Panasonic. Now there's one. Guess I'll grab another Sony before they realize they're a monopoly.

    The irony of a Panasonic TV set with a Sony display is going to be great, though.

    1. Re:Well that made broadcast monitor buying easy by adolf · · Score: 2

      Pro displays sound exactly like the higher-margin, lower-volume, more-specialized stuff that TFS says they'll continue to be doing.

      That the bottom has fallen out of the television market doesn't mean that there isn't any profit left in making other LCDs.

      --
      Kid-proof tablet..
  5. Survivor Taiwan by retroworks · · Score: 2

    Japan has withdrawn from the display market before (CRTs) And has done so grudgingly, but smartly, each time. It is the chips and software where successful nations (Japan and USA among them) prioritize. Korea and Taiwan (which runs Shenzhen) are still in the game. I have been interviewing some of the display experts of the 1970s-90s. Panasonic's "arm-length" relationship with its display subcontractors in Indonesia deserves a book in itself.

    --
    Gently reply
  6. Re: Great, the Sharp and Hon Hai ones are garbage by slew · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sharp has always tried do be 3/4 of the price and 1/2 the quality of Sony. I used to hate having to sell Sharp when I worked retail. So often I'd lose a customer for good.

    AFAIK, Sony didn't make LCDs for their TVs, most of the panels are made by Sharp or Samsung (depending on the models). For the smaller Sony branded TVs, sony went with even cheaper taiwanese panel makers (e.g, CPT, AUO, CMO). Sony did augment their TVs with their own digital signal processing logic and LED back-lighting scheme, but I'm pretty sure panel was pretty much the same one in Sharp...

  7. Re: Great, the Sharp and Hon Hai ones are garbage by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Yep, mostly Samsung panels. Despite a power supply hum I enjoy our 52" Sharp AQUOS LCD, the picture is great from pretty much any angle and the brightness is great.

    --
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  8. Re:If you believe in Panasonic then clap your hand by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

    Panasonic is a DBA of Matsushita IIRC. Like half the Japanese 'name brands'.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  9. You missed Toshiba by speedlaw · · Score: 2

    Bought a "Toshiba" TV set at Best Buy. When I got it home, found it was a "Best Buy" set with a Toshiba name, and that Toshiba no longer sells TV sets in the US. Don't see how anyone can be making money in this market. A 50 inch used to be $4k, then dropped to 2.5k, then dropped to the current $700....