Believe it or not, it was around this day two full years ago that LG managed to climb atop Matsushita, Hitachi and the rest of the gang to claim the label of top plasma maker in the world. Shortly thereafter, Matsushita roared to number one and has remained there ever since -- until now. The aforesaid firm slipped from #1 to #3 in Q1 2008, as LG's share surged 34.8-percent on 97-percent year-over-year growth. Samsung SDI took advantage of Matsushita's folly and claimed the silver for the first time, while Hitachi, Pioneer and Orion closed out the bottom in that order. We've got a good feeling about PDP this year, but we aren't about to call it a comeback.

[Via Tech-On]

Not even two months after Syntax-Brillian announced that it would be acquiring at least 700,000 LCD panels from Sharp during 2008, along comes word that the firm will also be on the receiving end of a similar deal with LG.Philips -- er, LG Display, we should say. Nomenclature aside, the agreement between the two asserts that LG.Philips (or whatever it becomes) will supply Syntax-Brillian "with a minimum of 750,000 LCD panels during 2008," though it's certainly not the first deal of its kind. More specifically, it'll provide 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch Full HD units, and the option to purchase additional inventory remains alive. So much teamwork in the LCD industry -- those other sectors could stand to learn a thing or two.

While LG is shutting down plasma manufacturing plants and other manufacturers are scrambling to figure out precisely what happened to the once lucrative PDP market, Hitachi is doing more than just looking overseas. The firm has now inked a deal with Panasonic maker Matsushita to "start supplying Hitachi with 103-inch panels in the current business year to March 2008, while Hitachi will begin providing Matsushita with 85-inch panels next business year." Aside from the natural flow of give 'n take, the motives here center around joining forces to battle competition rather than facing the brutal marketplace alone, and this news comes not too long after whispers of LG and Samsung forming a similar alliance. Of course, only time will tell what sorts of revenue (if any) this will actually generate, but with LCD HDTV prices like they are, we can't blame these guys for giving it a go.

Sure, it's no surprise to see bleeding-edge tech plummet in price soon after the initial craze is over, but Sony NEC Optiarc is estimating that Blu-ray disc drive prices will "drop 50 percent from current levels amid aggressive development" by other manufacturers. Shuji Minami -- the product business group's general manager -- is suggesting that increased production by alternative manufacturers will open up the currently tight supply line. We've heard Sony blaming the overwhelming shortage of Blu-ray components for its Playstation 3 supply quandaries, and we've assumed the inclusion of such a drive somewhat justifies (or not) the staggeringly high pricetag, but we can't say we're sharoosed that prices will be dramatically lower in just over 12 months. Regardless, the firm is touting Window's forthcoming Vista operating system as encouragement for more producers to hop on the (nearly empty) bandwagon, so if you're cool with holding out on (questionably beneficial) 1080p flicks for another year or so, you'll (unsurprisingly) find yourself a lot richer for it. But for you European blokes who'll be suffering the same launch day madness that we're still surviving next year, we highly doubt Sony will cut you any slack, especially considering how much dough they're already losing.