Where is panasonic plasma tv made

Panasonic's latest television, the ZT60, is the best plasma the company has ever made. It will also be the last plasma panel to come out of the company's research and development department, which means Panasonic will never make a higher-quality plasma television.

Panasonic Display Vice President Kiyoshi Okamoto confirmed to The Verge today at an event in New York that development has ceased, and said that the ZT60 uses "the last plasma panel" from research and development.

Okamoto was quick to note, however, that panel development is not the same as television production: he made it clear that Panasonic would continue to make and sell plasma televisions into at the very least, saying that "we have a responsibility" to customers to continue production.

The company has shifted at least some of its plasma engineers to OLED development, with which Panasonic plans to eventually replace its plasma lineup. Okamoto said "OLED is one of the key future products" for Panasonic, and that it is continuing to study demand for the televisions before announcing any plans.

He elaborated that the company may focus on business sales at first. Manufacturers across the board have struggled with yield rates to-date, making OLEDs prohibitively expensive and rare. The move to shutter plasma development comes as LCD continues its dominance. Some consumers continue to fear burn-in and others believe LCD is a newer — and therefore better — technology. Plasma shipments plummeted 23 percent year-over-year in compared to just a one percent drop for LCDs, according to NPD.

Panasonic has been hurt by the move to LCD, and it projects that plasmas will continue to represent about 11 percent of its unit sales in the future. Nevertheless, plasma remains an important part of Panasonic's television lineup.

Of the company's models , about half are plasmas, and representatives said that the company would continue to advertise that "plasma has superior picture quality" over LCD televisions. However, Okamoto said that the company has invested too heavily on plasmas, and that "we should invest more in LCD," especially when it comes to marketing.

If Panasonic must pull the plug on plasma development, the ZT60 isn't the worst place to stop. The television was pitted head-to-head with a Pioneer Kuro Elite FD, part of the company's highly-vaunted plasma lineup that was discontinued in Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga is focused on jettisoning underperforming divisions and concentrating on higher-margin products in a bid to return the group to profitability. Panasonic, along with its domestic rivals Sharp and Sony, have all struggled to cope with falling electronics prices and stiff competition from South Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers.

Meanwhile, new screen technologies, such as LCD, organic light emitting diode OLED , and the most recent ultra-high-definition 4K standard, may have hastened plasma's demise. Will 4K television have its day? Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 9.

The fundamental technologies, which have enabled Panasonic's cumulative production of million TVs, have undergone dramatic transformation in the past. High-density circuit integration created one-chip LSIs that became standard components in digital broadcast receivers and decoders.

The evolution of LSIs not only improved basic TV performance but also enhanced ease, convenience and safety in operating TV, bringing richer and more comfortable lifestyles to people around the world. Meanwhile, the display, which is the "face" of the TV, has made remarkable progress as well, making it possible to replace cathode-ray tubes CRTs with large-screen, flat-panel displays such as plasma and LCD displays.

As the advancement of flat-panel display technologies synchronize with the rapid progress of global-scale digital broadcasting, such as digital satellite broadcasting and terrestrial digital broadcasting that started in Japan in , flat-panel TVs using plasma or LCD panels have been quickly replacing CRT TVs, since the newer display panels work better with digital technology.

In , the company began manufacturing the world's first inch full HD plasma display. In , the company established mass-production technologies for the world's largest inch full HD plasma display.

These are cases which demonstrate Panasonic's endeavors to meet customers' needs for larger screens. Panasonic expects this to become one of it core technologies that will contribute to further evolution of TV technologies. Panasonic has also been promoting globalization of its TV production. The company began exporting TVs to Thailand in In , Panasonic Taiwan Co. Since then, Panasonic has been running its TV operations by selecting the best location in light of the prevailing situation.

Panasonic now manufactures all display devices in Japan and operates TV assembly plants at locations worldwide near consumer markets. By establishing a production system that is capable of responding quickly to consumer needs, the company continues to respond promptly to market needs and cost competitiveness. By facilitating the production of TVs for various broadcasting systems in use around the globe and responding promptly to local service needs, Panasonic's global production system allows to satisfy diverse needs of customers of the world.

In , Panasonic began basic TV research and development, and the world's first TV broadcasting tests started in Germany in the same year. In , full-fledged TV broadcasting began in Japan. One year earlier, in , Panasonic began producing black-and-white TVs. This led TVs into a period of full-scale penetration in the market.