Another Manufacturer Drops Plasma
Whether the rumors that Pioneer plans to pull out of the plasma TV business prove true or not, one other maker of flat panel TVs has left plasma behind: Vizio. — The five-year-old company, which originally made a name for itself selling lower-cost plasma and LCD TVs …
Context & Ripple Effects
Vizio's quiet exit from plasma is the latest step in a two-year retreat from the technology. In 2007, LG idled one of its four South Korean plasma panel plants while Toshiba and Sharp formed an LCD pact, signaling where manufacturing investment was heading. Now Vizio — a five-year-old company that built its brand on low-cost plasma and LCD sets — has dropped plasma outright, just as rumors swirl that Pioneer plans to pull out of the business entirely.
First-order effects
- Budget-conscious shoppers lose their cheapest plasma options, since Vizio was the value player in the category, and Pioneer's rumored exit would remove one of plasma's most respected brands.
- Vizio concentrates its lineup on LCD, betting that falling panel costs make LCD the volume play at every price point it competes in.
Second-order effects
- The remaining plasma loyalists — Panasonic chief among them, still pushing premium sets like its ultra-thin 54Z1 — are left carrying the format alone, with less vendor diversity to sustain component volumes and retail shelf space.
- Every defection improves LCD's scale economics against plasma, pressuring holdout manufacturers to shift capacity and pricing toward LCD or follow Vizio and Pioneer out.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, flat-panel TV becomes a single-technology (LCD) market, echoing how rear-projection died when Mitsubishi discontinued its last line in 2012 — display categories consolidate fast once the volume leaders commit.
- A consolidated LCD supply chain concentrates power among panel makers, which eventually shows up in flatter TV prices and thinner margins for brands like Vizio that compete on cost rather than panels.
The trend: Display technologies are consolidating around LCD as economies of scale squeeze out rival formats, from plasma to rear-projection.