Plasma manufacturers getting less for more

LCDs just keep on rolling in the display market, and the tide has definitely shifted away from plasma. DisplayBank rounded up the numbers for 2007, and found that even though plasma volume was up almost 20-percent, revenues were down 15-percent; that last ugly number comes courtesy an almost 30-percent decrease in average selling price. These kind of numbers are no surprise, but expect the shakeout to continue and even accelerate as manufacturers either exit the plasma business entirely or move plasmas to the high-end of the market. It's no secret that we prefer the latter, as plasma still trumps LCDs in moving image (which pretty accurately describes the content we watch) quality and shows great promise going forward.