Matsushita: Aggressive Flat Panel TV Goals
Matsushita announced FY2008 results on April 28, 2008. Matsushita is a huge company in a variety of markets but I will focus on display-related results from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008.
The company began operation of its fourth domestic PDP plant in June 2007 and start constructing its fifth in November 2007. In FY2007, Matsushita shipped 7.5 million flat panel TVs, of which 4.25 million were PDP TVs and 3.25 million were LCD TVs. The company is targeting a 47% Y/Y growth to 11 million unit shipments in FY2009. PDP TVs are expected to hit 6 million units while LCD TVs will grow to 5.0 million in FY2009.
Just a couple of years ago Matsushita was very focused on PDP TVs. The tide has changed and so did Matsushita. My personal guess is that LCD TV shipments will outnumber PDP TV in FY2010 (ending in March 31, 2010). By the looks of its marketing activities, Matsushita is expecting some positive feedback from the Olympics toward flat panel TV sales. Unfortunately, I am not sure if that will happen. With the depressed economy in the US (and some political tension surrounding the Olympics), 2008 is turning out to be not such a great time to splurge on a big HDTV.
Technorati Tags: LCD TV, Matsushita, Panasonic, PDP TV
