Pioneer quitting Plasma TVs, going out of business? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_HR]

It is your eyes & your $$$$ AND my eyes & my $$$$ & matters of opinion make the world go round. Enjoy your HDTV & I'll enjoy what is IMHO the BEST.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Boy, this is sad. Since they haven't turned a profit in years, even when the economy was good, I suppose it's inevitable.

Of course, I don't suppose I really helped- my Elite Pro 510HD (53" CRT) is still going strong- bought (for stupid money, compared to today's prices) in 2000. The picture still puts a smile on my face, particularly since it's utterly devoid of pixel structure. Just think- there's a whole generation of videophiles stepping up that will never know this.

 

[LanceJ]

Wow I didn't know Pioneer Inc. as a whole was losing money. :frowning: My first piece of gear from them, an SX-6 stereo receiver I bought new in 1983, it still going strong (just needs a couple of its mechanical switches cleaned to get rid of some intermittant static) & has never been repaired; I also own two pairs of their home speakers, a dvd-audio player and have owned a home CD changer & car speakers & a car CD player.

I sure hope they pull through.

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BTW: for those on a budget, their entry level speakers - remember, they build their own drivers so they can price their speaker systems accordingly - sound very good IMO for what they cost and just plain nice no matter what they cost.

Parts-express.com sells them (Circuit City did too until a few months ago).

The smallest bookshelf received a full review here and the writer seemed to like them quite a bit (I've heard these myself; I own the previous version of the 8" woofer model).

And don't forget about their hi-end EX series (up to @$9,000 per pair), and their ultra-hi-end loudspeakers built by their TAD division.

Parts-express also sells some of Pioneer's raw drivers, including the 8" B20 full range driver, a popular choice among many full range loudspeaker builders. The Fullrangedriver Forum.

 

[Ernest]

According to their announcement Pioneer is exiting their plasma TV's business in 2010. For now, they are not going out-of-business. As an incentive to sell their existing inventory Pioneer is offering a 5 year warranty. The announcement did not mention they would stop production on any other products. Plasma represented 14% of Pioner's overall business and was not turning a profit.

Pioneer makes top-of-the line products and unfortunately with the downturn in the economy higher priced TV's are not going to sell. It doesn't matter that it doesn't get any better. Right now the most important product feature is price and that is why WalMart and other cost conscious sellers are doing okay.

It is sad because we could loose some really good manufacturers that are replaced by marginal companies. Then when the economy picks up the consumer is struck with the marginal companies. Deflation takes its toll on the high end manufacturers.

 

[Andrew M]

Here's a quote from today's Display Daily:

"And what happens to those gorgeous Kuro plasma TVs? Presently, 200 of Pioneer's best PDP engineers are now working at Panasonic's plasma labs to bring forth the next generation of Kuro displays. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Panasonic could simply take over the Kuro technology, lock, stock, and barrel -- that is, if HDTV sales start to pick up again. "

 

[Yee-Ming]

Likewise: we bought a KRP-500A (not sure what the equivalent Elite model no. is) last month. And for the record I'm very happy with it.

Having said that, we've had a 434 for five years, no trouble at all to date (although one set of inputs seems a bit wonky now). So hopefully the 500A remains trouble-free as well.

It is rather sad, I guess consumers do chase the lowest price, and not many are prepared to pay a premium for a top-quality product. When the 500A was launched here at a trade show, the distributor had set up a display section in a darkened room, with the new 500A, the previous 5080, a Panasonic PY850, and a Sony Bravia LCD, all showing the same material, which had a lot of scenes with black backgrounds. Even the 5080 was noticeably "greyer" than the 500A, let alone the PY850. As for the LCD, it was positively "glowing".

As for power consumption, IIRC whilst plasma peaks at higher levels, that's when the scene is bright, and power consumption is lower if scenes are dark. The power rating is peak, not average, whereas LCDs with their constantly lit backlights consume power at the stated level regardless of what they are displaying. So the difference isn't as large as LCD manufacturers/salesmen say it is.

 

[GrahamSmith]

Pioneer have for some time produced the best Plasma TVs on the market. It is a real pitty that people arent prepared to pay for a quality product. This is a big loss for the TV market

 

[D-Jingle]

Yes, Pioneer leaving the industry was a shocking.

But it makes sense, and I'm not sure the consumer will suffer. If you compare side-by-side Pioneer Kuro with Panasonic Plasmas, you find that Panasonic was already very close. Panasonic was already working with Pioneer on producing Plasma panels.

The killer was the price. Panasonic MSRP was, on average, 50% of the Kuro's. In other words, Panasonic already gives us almost as good PQ but at half the price. This stiff competition is the reason why Pioneer is calling it quits with Plasma's.

At CES, Panasonic looked goooood. Very good! They were slim (some under an inch in thickness). And they had uber technology (internet tv's, 2-way cable cards).

This will be blasphemy to many, but I think the industry and consumers will be better off with this passing of the batton.

 

[DaveF]

Depends on what is meant by "almost as good". Professional reviews have indicated Panasonic is two generations behind Pioneer in performance. Maybe that's imperceptible to the typical consumer so it's "almost as good".

As for being super thin...most TVs go on a stand that's 12" deep, so what does going from 2" to 1" thick on a TV do for anyone? No real space is saved.

Ultimately, Consumers lose out somewhat by no longer having the best technology competing and driving other companies to innovate further.

 

[Dave H]

Companies are still going to be competing against each other with LCD as they did for all of those years where we only had CRT. Not all CRTs were created equal for sure. The question is, how far can LCD go in terms of PQ? It should be interesting.

 

[Ric Easton]

Wow, looks like I am very late to this funeral.

Very big bummer. I really wanted my next TV to be a KURO. Hearing about the deep inky black levels had me pumped to watch space movies in a completely darkened room. Also, there would be no need for me to use the mattes I had been using to mask out the "black bars." on my own set. But with our bills and the economy the way it is, it is going to be several years before we buy another set. Hopefully in that time there will be an HDTV that approaches the quality of the KURO. Although it seems quality is the least of consumer concerns these days.

My present set is over 6 years old. A Pioneer rear projection CRT (SD-533HD5) that still looks great. Although I'm sure it could use a professional calibration, the picture looks a lot better than virtually all of the LCDs I have seen. Here's hoping the thing lasts several more years.

 

[theredguy]

thats very sad, poineer makes one of the best plasmas.

 

[Mike_J_D]

Bought a Kuro 111FD today with the knowledge that Pioneer was quitting the Plasma business; honestly, I couldn't walk away from the price and the fact that I've always, always, wanted a Pioneer Elite display. Damn this TV looks great - even compared to my XBR4.

Sad about Pioneer, but I'm not to concerned with warranty issues or fixing it if it breaks.

 

[D-Jingle]

its sad to see such a paragon of quality go.

but, on the other hand, Plasmas are on the wane.

before the bashing begins, I love plasma. but they wont be able to compare with these Samsung OLED's



Showcased at CES 2009, Samsung expects them to be consumer ready by 2010!

 

[Mike_J_D]

Yeah but OLED A) Isn't cheap and B) isn't available in sizes over 40" - yet. I too am a fan of the OLED technology, I spent about 30 minutes staring at CES. Well, if and when they are ready and cost effective I'll move into OLED technology.

 

[V10Torque]

I think we're still a few years off from OLED technology for the manufacturers to really ramp up production. A lot of them are still trying to recover LCD glass factory costs!

In the 100" sizes I think next few years we'll see a lot of 1080P projector TV's as the energy consumption of 100" LCD is ridiculous (think multiple hair dryes)....

 

[D-Jingle]

According to Samsung, their OLED's may be consumer ready as soon as 2010

 

[D-Jingle]

This is a great example of the bias people have for Pioneer.

I don't care if "professional" reviewers think Panasonic is "two generations behind" if 'typical consumer so it's "almost as good"'.

The vast majority of sets are bought by "typical consumers". And few, if any, seem to notice the difference in color contrast between Pioneer and Panasonic is side-by-side comparisons. Even Kevin Smith (ISF) ranks Pioneer as PQ 10 and Panasonic as PQ 9.5.

And the fact that the set is now 1" thick means that 12" deep stands are history. In fact these sets should be hung on a wall like paintings!

 

[celica]

i'll wait for it..

 

[Jeff_HR]

Disagree.