Fujitsu Quits Plasma Panel Business

Plasma display pioneer Fujitsu has decided to get out of the plasma television business, owing to competitive pressures from lower-cost LCD panels.

Another week, another one bites the dust: although the company the first to introduce plasma televisions, Japan’s Fujitsu group has said it will cease production of plasma TVs because it simply can’t make enough money at it. Fujitsu once offered a broad range of plasma models, but had recently scaled back to offering only high-end units via exclusive European and U.S. retailers, and in 2005 sold off control of a plasma joint venture to Hitachi.

“During the past several years, the pricing and profitability of this segment has compressed beyond the point which our company could realize a satisfactory return on investment,” Fujitsu General said in a statement. Fujitsu General will close out its plasma business by March, and focus on it remaining business in the heating and ventilation market. Fujitsu General is separate from Fujitsu’s operations in consumer electronics and computer manufacturing.

Fujitsu General introduced the world’s first plasma televisions in the 1990s, following decades of research—the technology was developed at the University of Illinois in 1964. Originally developed as an alternative to CRTs for use in computer-based education, the technology trickled along on military applications for several years. Although the technology continues to hold much promise—and Matsushita (Panasonic) continues to manufacture large plasma panels—price pressure from ever-expanding LCD panels is forcing a re-alignment in the flat-panel television industry.