Pioneer to stop making 42-inch plasmas

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted Feb 24th 2008 at 9:08PM

In a move that can only be interpreted as a win for LCD manufacturers, Pioneer is giving the axe to its 42-inch plasmas and instead will buy 'em from Panasonic. This eliminates one of our two favorite plasma manufactures and leaves Panasonic with less competition. This is of course the size that competes head to head with LCD more than any other size. We can understand where Pioneer is coming from on this one, as the 42-inch market is all about value and we've seen a few big named manufactures getting away from low margin HDTVs. Pioneer will however continue to focus on panels 50-inch and larger, so don't worry, our beloved Kuro line isn't going anywhere.

Filed under: Pioneer, Plasma

Tags: 42-inch, features, Pioneer Plasma, PioneerPlasma

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

longhairbilly @ Feb 24th 2008 9:24PM

I know not everyone has enough space for a huge TV, but 42 inches to me anyway, is just not big enough anymore.

Highest Ranked

Harrie @ Feb 24th 2008 10:21PM

I sell Pioneer and Elite TVs, and we just had a visit from our Pioneer rep. He said they are exploring a large panel. Perhaps a 65" is in the works. They are going 100% 1080p. There will be no replacement to the PDP-5080HD and the PRO-1150HD which have already stopped production and are sold out from Pioneer. Any panels available are sitting in warehouses at this point.

Highly Ranked

Ken @ Feb 25th 2008 12:05AM

I sell the stuff, and Pioneer seriously needs a 65-70" model. Even if it is $10-12k, it will sell.

Neutral

jcbl @ Feb 25th 2008 1:56AM

I hope you are right about a 65 Pioneer. I would replace my older 65 projection set in a second if I could get a 65 Elite. Already have a 50" in my home office....since I got it don't even want to visit the family room set!

Neutral

Jake @ Feb 24th 2008 10:43PM

"For all intents and purposes this leaves Panasonic as the sole manufacture of the 42-inch plasma."

Did LG and Hitachi stop making 42" PDPs?

Neutral

Britton Yoder @ Feb 24th 2008 10:59PM

I was thinking the same. What about LG and Hitachi. LG is the only other single pane plasma manufacturer out there. We know that those 42pc5d's aren't pioneer panels. I would also assume that Panasonic is not manufacturing better (read single pane) panels and selling them to LG and not using them in their own product line. What gives??????

Neutral

Ben @ Feb 24th 2008 11:06PM

For as along as I can remember Pioneer and Panasonic have been competing to produce the best plasma. Very rarely do you see Hitachi or LG compete on picture quality. So with Pioneer out, it leaves Panasonic with no competition in regards to PQ on 42-inch plasmas.

Otherwise I would've said it leaves them as the last and skip the expression all together.

Neutral

TrentD @ Feb 24th 2008 11:12PM

1) LG, Hitachi, Samsung, and perhaps a few Chinese no-name fabs still make 42 inch plasma panels, as well as Panasonic.
2) Manufactur-er, not "manufacture"
3) I predict Sharp's 16-point-something percent ownership of Pioneer comes into play here and we see Sharp manufactured Pioneer-branded 1080p LCDs in the 42" and below sizes, with Pioneer putting out 50", 60", and a new 70" 1080p plasmas to hold down the high end.

Neutral

mcrexx @ Feb 24th 2008 11:40PM

That's unfortunate. Does this affect North America only or worldwide? What about in markets where big TV's aren't so common because of a lack of living space? Like Hong Kong, Japan, London, etc. I shudder to think having to go with LCD.

Neutral

Sean @ Feb 24th 2008 11:56PM

good, there expensive.

Neutral

Dan @ Feb 25th 2008 2:41AM

Hopefully this will drive down the price on eBay for them

Neutral

GhostDoggy @ Feb 25th 2008 5:18AM

From my seating distance relative to my 42" flat panel, I cannot discern the native resolution, anyway. And that's only 768P and assumes my corrected vision is 20/20. This isn't so much something personal to me, but the fact of human ability to resolve and the culture of seating distance to image.

Neutral

Matt M @ Feb 25th 2008 9:47AM

I sure hope Pioneer steps up to a better ad campaign for the next gen Kuro - Those freaky eyes in the hand thing won't sell to their target audience. It's like oakley trying to sell to me Dad.

Kuro's are the best consumer TV I've ever seen - period. I've already said I need to start saving for a 65in Kuro project set!

Neutral

Wilbur @ Feb 25th 2008 12:28PM

So, does this mean that Pioneer will still make 42-inch plasmas, but just source the glass from Panasonic instead of making it in house?

And how does this affect the "Kuroness" of future 42-inch Pioneer plasmas, if the glass is different?

Neutral

kcjones @ Feb 25th 2008 2:10PM

This is a smart move by Pioneer. They are limiting the different type of panels that they manufacture. Panasonic Panels are great, but Panasonic gets cheap on electronics such as scaler and color management systems. So Pioneer's new 42's should still look great.

Neutral

Raptor007 @ Feb 25th 2008 2:42PM

I've got a 46" LCD myself to avoid burn-in from heavy gaming use, but I'd be sad to see Pioneer stop making the Kuro. Glad to hear it's still in production in the larger sizes.

Neutral

HDpurist @ Feb 27th 2008 8:46AM

Pioneer 5080HD 50" 768p panel for $2000 killed their sales of the 42". It made sense to discontinue the 42 incher. Glad too see Pioneer making this decision - it'll allow them to focus on shifting production costs to improving their 50"+ sets. Can't wait to see their 9G panels.

Neutral

Ben @ Feb 27th 2008 8:47AM

While I agree, the interesting thing is that it appears the 5080 has been discontinued. A few retailers have reported this, but Pioneer has not confirmed.

Neutral

Bluemanrule @ Feb 28th 2008 11:04AM

I think that Panasonic makes decent 42" plasmas. This may be a margin-improving move by Pioneer. The brand name carries a premium stigma, and thus, a premium price. Smart move. Now Pioneer can concentrate on its larger money-makers.

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