During a recent press event in Hong Kong, Rudy Provoost, CEO of Philips Consumer Electronics said the company has decided to phase out of the PDP (plasma display panel) TV market and focus on LCD TVs in the future.
Except for North America and Australia, Philips will drop PDP TV sales and it plans to stop PDP TV sales in China later this year, Provoost pointed out.
Philips currently offers 42- and 50-inch PDP TVs in China. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007 in Las Vegas (January 8-11), the company showcased a 63-inch PDP TV (63PFP7422D) and said the new TV will hit the market in June with a suggested retail price of US$3,499.
Besides Japan-based Hitachi, Toshiba, Panasonic and Korea-based LG Electronics (LGE) and Samsung Electronics, Philips is one of the major flat-panel TV vendors that are betting both on LCD and PDP technologies.
Philips ranked the fourth in the global PDP TV market for the full year of 2006 with a 10% revenue share, trailing Panasonic, LGE and Samsung, according to DisplaySearch. The Netherlands-based company ranked the second place in LCD TV market with a revenue share of 13.0%, with Samsung being the top player.
The major PDP TV manufacturer for Philips is TPV Technology indicated that Quanta Computer and TPV produce LCD TVs for the company.
Philips plans to ship nine million LCD TVs in 2007, up from more than five million in 2006. Philips Taiwan said the company is unavailable to provide its PDP TV shipment target for 2007.
Unlike its LCD TV business, for which Philips has 32.9% of stake of LG.Philips LCD, a leading LCD TV panel maker, Philips does not have any PDP plants to support its own-brand PDP TV business.
In addition, Philips' decision is probably related to the strong growth of the LCD TV market, sources said.Worldwide LCD TV and PDP TV markets will grow to 63 million and 11 million units, respectively, in 2007, up from 40 million and nine million units, respectively, in 2006. To stay competitive, PDP TV makers now are eying the 50-inch-and-above segment, which has become the new divide between LCD and PDP technologies, as opposed to the previous divide at the 40-inch level.
Last year, Sony stated it will stop producing PDP TVs. The Japan-based giant has slowed its PDP TV shipments in recent years. Sony's output of PDP TVs totaled only 100,000 units in fiscal year 2005 (the year ended March 31, 2006), down 67% from 300,000 units in the previous year, according to Sony.
Nevertheless, a January 16 report quoted market rumors in saying Sony is considering returning to the PDP TV market and is in talks with Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display (FHP).
Source:佚名