Panasonic, Hitachi and Canon make billion-dollar LCD deal official

No longer a rumor, Hitachi, Matsushita (Panasonic) and Canon are joining forces to shake up the LCD biz. Panasonic and Canon have each agreed to take 24.9% ownership of Hitachi Displays, which will use the investment to continue its advancement in LCD technology. Canon gets access to Hitachi's small- to medium-sized LCDs and, OLEDs for its cameras and other products, while Panasonic looks to "enhance the competitive edge in-step with PDP models" of its Viera line of HDTVs with Hitachi's IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology and future OLED production. Don't think Panasonic and Hitachi are giving up on the Plasma Coalition, but they aren't afraid to hedge their bets in reaction to the market's demand for cheap LCDs and similar partnerships among competitors.

[martin @ Dec 25th 2007 12:09PM]

this can only be good.

[ajumps @ Dec 25th 2007 12:46PM]

looks like there's a little too much eggnog being passed around the office...

tagged as "woooo" and "[anasonic"? take it easy.

[Crap @ Dec 25th 2007 12:53PM]

GOOD ALRIGHT for them to keep prices high as any time the big companies team up you lose.

[joey @ Dec 25th 2007 8:46PM]

They should start making larger (40"-50") LCD tvs, I made one by combining some multiple lcd's.

[mike @ Dec 25th 2007 2:25PM]

This is actually bad news for the consumers.

[Nihal @ Dec 26th 2007 2:04PM]

no guys think about this deal in long run. this may really prove a good deal for consumers too.

[DAZA @ Dec 25th 2007 8:08PM]

Maybe now Panasonic will start making LCD panels larger than 26" and 32"..

[euclid @ Dec 26th 2007 2:42AM]

I think the outcome will be good for consumers. Prices keep getting lower and just because 3 biggies have joined forces on the LCD front doesn't mean prices will stay put. Sooo many other manufacturers are competing for your hard earned money... Sammy, Sharp, Sony, LG, JVC, Phillips, Pioneer, Polaroid etc.. to name a few. Besides, there are many newer brands as well.

[andyo @ Dec 26th 2007 7:19AM]

Crap, get off the LCD thing already! Yeah, make it cheaper, but stop wasting money in trying to "improve" a crippled technology when there are better options designed form the ground-up. SED was one, OLED is another. Invest more on new technologies. LCD will never be a quality replacement for CRTs, right now it's only a transition technology, because of its practicality. It will only get cheaper, but probably never be as good as CRT. Make it quick.

[adrian @ Dec 26th 2007 11:07AM]

Panasonic know deep down they have to make LCD TV's bigger than 32 inch, in order to compete in the long term.