Pioneer gives up on plasma

(By Richard Holway) News that (see FT 12th Feb 09 - Pioneer quits TVs and cuts 10000 jobs ) Pioneer is to stop making plasma TVs is pretty shocking. The Holway household boasts a 50 inch Pioneer plasma in our home cinema room and it’s pretty awesome – as was the price! We’ve has it for nearly three years now and the price of an equivalent screen is probably down by two thirds.

Three years ago I felt pretty comfortable – as did most of the population. Can’t say I feel that way today. I certainly wouldn’t have spent anything like that now. But the real issue is that I wouldn’t have needed to. I was hardly likely to install a bigger screen than 50 inches after all!

So the Holway household is a pretty good example of the awful ills affecting the consumer electronics sector. Consumers lack the confidence to buy the big ticket/high margin items AND the unit price (and associated profit) has fallen like a stone.