Panasonic, the world’s largest manufacturer of plasma displays, will cease production because the consumer group just can’t sell enough plasma to make it price competitive (or profitable enough) against LCD-based LCD and traditional CFL-based LCD HDTVs. This is despite the fact that the professional division of Plasma has differentiated itself from the LCD market with large-format plasma as large as 103″ diagonal as well as one that’s touch-screen — the 85″ ProPlasma. And, they’re selling.
But with the volume of the consumer market driving most HDTV and monitor production lines, it’s clear that LCD (for now) is winning the TV war and, for the most part, the Korean manufacturers are winning in consumer TV markets with nearly a 45 percent market share, according to Reuters.