Someone who knows please clear this up for me. Sony to stop making Plasmas?

[Doom_Que_CC]

I have heard that sony is going to stop making plasmas? is this true or are they just going to focus more on lcd production now that they have teamed up wth samsung to produce lcds. Some clear this up for me as i am getting conflicting info from the higher ups at CC. I for dont believe that sony would completely drop the plasma game since they make some of the best looking ones out there(my opinion of course). Please help?

[57U]

Not that I'm aware. They are stopping production of the CRTs in 2008...

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/27/1224235&from=rss

See also:

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=21380

[max]

Well not that I am for sure, but if you go onto the sonystyle.ca website they have no section for plasma TV's in their Television section and I haven't heard of any new releases on the horizon.

MAX,

[Intimidator#3]

Well what I can tell they still plan on makeing them.

[hdaddikt]

I think the Panasonic plasmas are better, quite honestly. Sony does seem to be stepping up their production of flat LCD panel TVs though.

[Intimidator#3]

Pan's are good but their teleology is way behind compared to Sony. Sony is almost in a league of their on when it comes to electronics.

[abeas]

Pan's are good but their teleology is way behind compared to Sony. Sony is almost in a league of their on when it comes to electronics.

Yes, they are also in their own league when it comes to price. Not worth the price. BTW, I heard from a workr at Circuit City as well that Sony will discontinue their plasmas end of 2006.

[goherd90]

Found this on BBC's website?


Sony denies plasma TV withdrawal

Sony says it remains committed to both LCD and plasma technologies
Sony has denied reports it is to cease selling plasma televisions to concentrate solely upon LCD (liquid crystal display) models.
The Japanese electronics giant said there was no truth in the newspaper claim, but analysts said it would make sense for Sony.

They point to the fact Sony does not actually make its own plasma models and is struggling to stay competitive.

Analysts say Sony would be better off sticking to rival technology LCD.


With plasma and LCD competing to be the most popular flat television technology, plasma currently has the advantage in that its screens can be made significantly larger.

Yet Sharp, one of Sony's television rivals, is already concentrating on LCD screens in the belief it will eventually be able to produce models as large as those using plasma technology.

'Little room to lower costs'

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said Sony, the world's number two plasma TV maker behind Matsu****a, owner of Panasonic, and ahead of third-largest Hitachi, would exit the plasma business as early as the spring of 2005.

Sony responded with a statement that while it would concentrate on LCD screens, it had no plans to pull out of plasma.

Electronics analyst Kazuya Yamamoto said it was difficult for Sony to make a profit out of plasma screens.

"Because Sony relies 100% on others for its panels, it has little room to lower costs," he said.

Sony's overall television division posted a loss of 6.1bn yen ($58.64m: £30.2m) in the three months to 30 September.

Until now, LCD TVs have primarily addressed the 20- to 40-inch screen-size market, while plasma has been used for the 40- to 60-inch range.

[Intimidator#3]

Well 1st don’t listen to the folks that work at these stores!! Their salesmen not tech guys and really every company has issues with Plasma's. Why because folks are getting educated about it and are learning that dropping 4-12 grand on a TV is not going to improve your PQ!! It's all on how things are broadcast the TV Networks control how things look on the newer type of TV sets. Until they all start broadcasting in HD or "True Digital" a LCD or really any type of HDTV will looks about the same on ALL SD Channels. So unless you just have the money saved up or just plan rich the only real advantage any plasma has is it don’t take up as much space! Overall don’t waste your money if you want to .But thinking it will improve your PQ because it’s plasma that is not true. Buy what’s in your budget what fits your room which has a big factor not everyone room going to be the same. Plasma is nice but you can spend less and get just as good of picture on something else as plasma. If plasma what you want go for it but right now until networks upgrade their equipment on their ends it really don’t matter much what you have on yours.

The movie industry will effect a lot of this due to most of your movie companies are going to start buy HD Cameras. Which means that the movies will take up more space on media format. Right now DVD is the best format we have be sides HD but that’s going to change. Blu-Ray is the new format of DVD and with it movie companies can make a HD movie put it on a Blu-Ray disk since there will be plenty of space. But again they have to use HD Equipment to do this and now that media is not an issue that Blu-Ray will take care of that. So until the TV Networks make changes you will not see really any difference between TV Sets. This is why folks get upset when they drop 4-10 grand on plasma and the PQ is about the same on SD channels as it is on LCD's so on. HD on the other hand always looks about the same because it’s HD and what your are watching at the time is being broadcast with HD equipment. So again buy what you want and what fits your environment and your budget. But don’t let any salesman BS you like most do because it's your money and you’re the one stuck with the thing. Anyway just my 2cents.

[goherd90]

I think we are getting a bit off topic...the original question was is Sony getting out of the Plasma business or not....and the answer is no.

As far as plasma preference or not it all depends on your budget and space as previously stated. The price for Plasma's have really dropped over the last several years and I would expect this to continue. I found Sony's 950XBR 50" Plasma for 4500 w/a 5 year in home warranty. I did not want the bulkiness of a projection and it really looks great hanging on the wall. If its not in your budget then go with something that does.

[Intimidator#3]

Well I guess in short is that if folks dont buy plasmas that much then all companys will not make as many. This is because some consumers are becoming smarter shoppers when it comes to TV's. Manufactures arent going to make very many plasma model's if they are not selling them. But main thing is like he said buy whats in your budget and what fit your enviorment the best.

[italchef]

I asked about plasma sets at the Sony store near me. The salesman ( he seemed to know his stuff ) told me that Sony was not continueing to make the plasma sets in order to concentrate on other technologies.
For what its worth.

Mick

[Intimidator#3]

Hmm well I have not seen a statement from Sony on this. So I'm sure if they were going to stop they would have already announced it.

[Ratman]

Based on my reading/understanding, Sony will not be aggressively 'focusing' on plasma displays.

I interpret that as they will concentrate on other display technologies.

[goherd90]

I agree w/Ratman.....I do not think Sony is going to stop making plasma's, however their focus moving forward will probably be more towards the marketing of lcd's and dlp's.

[Intimidator#3]

Yeah this will be true for not only Sony but most manufactures!! Plasma's are over priced big time and the PQ on them is not much better than LCD or DLP. You are buying space more than anything thats just it they save space and they have Burn In problems. Most tech places will not work on them due to their is not much you can to do them. Those that will work on them they useally charge more and most techs I have talked to that make in home visits. Say Plasma's are a pain to work on and have more issues so consumers are getting smarter about what they buy. So this is just another example of why pay $4,000- $10,000 for a TV when you can pay less to get the same results in PQ which is the main thing. TV manfatures have some control but we will not see better results untill the TV Networks make changes on their end. Main thing is folks buy what they want thats in their budget and what fits their rooms the best. Just dont get your hopes up to high.

[nemein]

I think what's more telling is the fact Sony has removed most references to plasmas from their SonyStyle.com site http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=tv&CP=sony_hm_nav_elec_tvshop You can still dig up some info w/ a search but they're no longer on the main page. So if they are going to continue selling them they are being VERY low key about it ;)

[JohnnyG]

I think it was nearly 10 years ago now that Panasonic bought a US firm called Plasmaco. Plasmaco was a research and development firm working on plasma display technology. Obviously, that investment has paid off big-time for Panasonic as they unquestionably have some of the best plasma displays on the market today.

I'm not sure that Sony was ever engineering and manufacturing their own 'glass' (does anybody know?). And, since Sony likes to concentrate on product where they own intellectual property (SXRD, for example), it makes some sense for them to withdrawal from the plasma market.

Although I can't say for sure that they are leaving the plasma market, something has happened recently that makes me believe this to be true (sorry, can't go into details).

[goherd90]

Again...I do not think Sony is TOTALLY getting out of the Plasma game and I don't THINK they manufacture their own glass(unsure of this). I guess the only way to for sure find out if you REALLY need to know is call Sony on the web site and tell them you're interested in purchasing a Sony, but don't see anything on the site and you've heard rumors of Sony exiting the game......see what they have to say?