imdb.com wrote:TV Set Manufacturers Switch to Flat Screens (Sep 9, 2004)
In an intense effort to come from behind, Sony, Hitachi, and Sanyo are planning a concentrated fourth-quarter marketing campaign to push new flat-panel TV models, the Asahi Shimbun observed today (Thursday). It noted the three manufacturers had left the pre-Olympics period to Matsushita, Sharp, Pioneer, and JVC, who enjoyed strong sales; Matsushita, which markets its products in the U.S. under the Panasonic label, captured 30 percent of the plasma TV market while Sharp took more than 50 percent of the LCD sector. A Sony official told the newspaper that the company is planning "record spending" to promote eight flat-screen models that it will start shipping this month. "Even in an Olympic year, the peak demand will come at the end of the year," he observed. Although sales have cooled since the Olympics, they are expected to pick up around the holiday season as the Japanese manufacturers engage in an expected price war. Analysts suggested the competition could put profit margins under pressure, and an unnamed manufacturer told the newspaper that it could even suffer a loss on sales of flat-panel TVs.