DailyTech - Hitachi and Matsushita LCD Pact Finalized, Details Revealed

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Gadgets Hitachi and Matsushita LCD Pact Finalized, Details Revealed
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - February 15, 2008 12:13 PM

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9 comment(s) - last by Clauzii.. on Feb 15 at 10:46 PM

Matsushita grabs a 24.9% stake in Hitachi Displays

The LCD industry is set to boom in 2008 pushed by the transition to digital TV broadcasts in the U.S. in 2009 and the upcoming Olympic games. This boom in 2008 could lead to a downturn in the coming years according to some experts after LCD makers scramble to ramp up production capacity to meet the current demand for LCD TVs.

Hitachi and Matsushita announced today that the formal contract regarding an alliance has been completed (PDF). A basic agreement between Hitachi and Matsushita was reached in December of 2007.

The final terms of the agreement between the companies was announced today and under the agreement Matsushita will take a 24.9% stake in Hitachi Displays Ltd. Matsushita’s stake will be acquired form Hitachi on March 21, 2008 pending regulatory approvals. A second step of the agreement will have Matsushita purchasing the total shares of IPS Alpha Technology, Ltd. for 66 billion yen along with all IPS LCD panel-related businesses.

DailyTech reported that Hitachi was in talks with Canon in December of 2007 and reports say that the two companies are still working towards a finalized contract. The Matsushita agreement will reportedly leave Hitachi is a 50.2% stake in Hitachi Displays.

The first multi-billion dollar LCD panel talks between Matsushita and Hitachi ensued on December 19, 2007. At that time Matsushita said it would invest $2.7 billion USD into a new LCD manufacturing facility.

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For those who were wondering...

By masher2

(blog) on 2/15/2008 12:54:25 PM , Rating: 2

Matsushita is better known as Panasonic...

RE: For those who were wondering...

By Christobevii3 on 2/15/08, Rating: -1

RE: For those who were wondering...

By Mitch101 on 2/15/2008 1:52:27 PM , Rating: 3

I think these third party companies (Dynex, Apevia) using inferior parts are to blame for a part of this. There are so many off name brands at the local store that supermarkets and mini marts are on the edge of having a TV and Stereo section. Most consumers buy based on price and I'm sure this is hurting the bigger name companies like Panasonic, Sony, Etc. So they come out with a few products that are sub par their brand name because they need to make a product near the low cost third party names that keep springing up that keep undercutting them in price. Before you know it they have cut so many corners that the products are mid level at most. Undercooled, lousy caps, mis aligned, under packaged, etc. Throw in a bunch of people at these stores who don't care or are disgruntled your buying a big screen as they man handle your equipment on its way to the showroom floor or wherever. The items that go to Walmart, BestBuy, Circuit City are volume items usually made cheap for bulk to maximize profit because these are discount outlets. Can you get a quality made item from these places yes. But consider Walmart doesnt order 10 items they order thousands and when you have volume you usually lose some quality.

You don't really see many people complain about Pioneer HDTV's but thats because most people will buy a cut rate because its half the price. Pioneer might not make as much money or sell as many units but Im sure they dont have the failure and return rate the others have either even if its based on sales percentages.

Sure it produces a picture but try asking the sales rep to open the box to see what kind of electronics are inside. Thats never going to happen. Those cheap capacitors are selling to someone?

Interesting Tip:
Buddy of mine like these showroom and says the best time to go is late in the day when the items have been running for a long time. Most people will never touch the item they are going to buy other than the buttons. He runs his hands all over the back of a lot of these when possible and if he cant get to it he has them pull it out. He bought the unit with the least amount of heat being generated. He said he was amazed at how much heat some items were pumping out but you would never know that unless you touched the back of them. I cant argue with him he hasnt had to return anything I know of.

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RE: For those who were wondering...

By Xerio on 2/15/2008 2:02:08 PM , Rating: 5

To sum up Mitch's comment: You get what you pay for. :)

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RE: For those who were wondering...

By Mitch101 on 2/15/2008 2:21:53 PM , Rating: 2

LOL. It close to the perfect comment but you can get lucky sometimes with an low priced product that last for years and never has a problem.

Do you gamble?
Ever time I order takeout.

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RE: For those who were wondering...

By Christobevii3 on 2/15/2008 7:31:05 PM , Rating: 2

I bought the high end pz77u panasonic, not the lower end model but the 1080p one! I definately didn't get what I paid for and was able to add the circuit city warranty today so now I can get them to cough up to cover it at least, despite it being roughly 30% of what i paid for the tv!

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