While some may have balked at Sony taking an
early exit from the PDP market, LG is becoming the fourth major player to reevaluate its investment in plasma after
Philips was caught claiming that LCD TVs would likely shape its strategy and Hitachi began to look intently
overseas for buyers. Reportedly, LG is closing the doors of its oldest
plasma manufacturing plant in Gumi, South Korea as it hopes to "increase operational efficiency and reduce costs." The removal of the A1 plant will drop its plasma capacity from 430,000 to 360,000 panels this year, and it should save the company somewhere between "$22 million and $32 million per year." Notably, LG currently sits in second place in quantity of PDPs shipped worldwide, but considering the perpetual
nosedive of HDTV
prices over the past year or so, we can't say that
Life looks too Good in the PDP arena right now.
[Via
PCMag]
