Originally published February 13 2005
Japanese giants join forces for plasma panel development
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Matsushita and Hitachi have announced a partnership to conduct research, development, production and marketing of plasma display panels in response to increasing competition from South Korean manufacturers. Large-screen plasma displays are becoming increasingly popular for use as computer monitors and as the primary display for large-screen TVs.
- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Hitachi Ltd. said today they have agreed to launch a comprehensive partnership in the plasma-display panel business to counter cutthroat competition from South Korean rivals.
- Japan's No. 1 and No. 2 plasma-display panel makers said the alliance will cover research and development, production, marketing and intellectual property.
- Fighting Competition The tie-up is expected to allow Matsushita, known for its Panasonic brand products, and Hitachi to capitalize on each other's technological prowess to pursue clearer pictures and pare down electricity consumption and reduce overall costs.
- The move is intended to pit the companies against South Korean firms that have been investing heavily in the development of plasma-display panels and against those strong in liquid crystal display TVs.
- Matsushita and Hitachi said in a joint statement that they will explore ways to work more closely with component makers with an eye on standardizing module parts and lower production costs.
- Creating Synergy "Synergism between the companies' businesses, such as product performance enhancement and cost reduction, will be sought through mutual utilization of the best components of the Hitachi and Panasonic groups," the statement said.
- On intellectual property, they will establish a joint venture to manage PDP-related patents to step up the joint use of their respective intellectual properties and improve development efficiency.
- Growing Market Hitachi will shortly make Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Ltd., a joint PDP production venture with Fujitsu Ltd., its subsidiary and get Fujitsu's relevant basic patents, which will be made available to Matsushita through the new patent-related firm.
- They account for about 90 percent of the global market for thin, large-screen TV sets and are expected to enjoy phenomenal growth in coming years, it said.
- In Japan, major LCD TV makers such as Sharp Corp. are rapidly increasing their focus on large-screen TVs.
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