IDG News Service - Pioneer plans to completely pull out of the television market in face of the poor economy, according to a report in Japan's Nikkei newspaper.
The company had already announced plans to end production of plasma display panels but was intending to continue producing TV sets using panels from Panasonic. But the harsh economic conditions have now pushed the company to leave the TV market, the newspaper said in its Saturday morning edition.
The PDP TV market is expected to grow by 5 percent in 2009 to 14.6 million units, according to an estimate from DisplaySearch. That's sharply down from the 24 percent growth experienced in 2008 and is falling because of competition from LCD TVs and fewer PDP TV makers in the market.
Pioneer will also spin off its DVD player business to a new joint venture that will be formed with Sharp, according to the report.
Pioneer is scheduled to report its financial results for the October-to-December quarter on Feb. 12.
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