Sad but True! News has come from Japan that Pioneer will stop making it’s great Kuro Plasma range and focus on car audio and digital TV box’s.
The company’s U.S. and U.K. plants are shutting down by April and February of this year, respectively, and product development for TVs beyond what’s currently on the market is ending, seeing no prospects for improving profitability even after combining plasma efforts with Panasonic and LCDs with Sharp.
Pioneer commented “Pioneer’s consolidated workforce will decrease by approximately 5,900 employees from March 31, 2008 to roughly 36,900 employees as of December 31, 2008. The number of temporary employees also decreased by approximately 4,000 in the same period. However, Pioneer has been affected significantly by dramatic changes in economic conditions since the fall of 2008—an impact that has far outweighed the benefits being generated by the aforementioned restructuring measures. Pioneer is now forecasting a record net loss for fiscal 2009, the year ending March 31, 2009.”
Japanese electronics company Pioneer Corp. is shutting two overseas plasma display assembly plants — one in Pomona, California, and the other in Castleford, Britain — by April. The factory closures are part of the plan to withdraw completely from the display business by March 2010
Pioneers 2008-9 financial year is predicting a loss of Y130bn, just over £1bn, against 2007-8 losses of about £141m. Much of this is down to a near 50% drop in operating revenue as a result of lower sales of plasma TVs.
A great loss to the Plasma world as another supplier closes it’s factory’s.
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