Matsushita Working On A Deal With Hitachi And Toshiba

Back when the large panel TV's were first getting popular, most companies had two choices, bet on Plasma for the ease of which it scales, or bet on LCD and hope for the best. Well, Matsushita bet on Plasmas, and that worked out well in the beginning, but since then, LCDs have grown in size, and the plasma market has dwindled considerably.

So, in a rather obvious move, Matsushita is looking to get into the LCD business. Right now there is word of one of two ways Matsushita plans on accomplishing this, the first is to takeover a joint venture of Hitachi and Toshiba to do it, and then pumping in 2.7 billion for a new facility.

The second is to go in with Canon on a minor stakes partner in Hitachi Displays LCD, who currently makes small (likely Canon's interest) and mid-sized LCD's and is working on OLED technology, all of which would allow Matsushita to remain a prominent player in the business. Regardless of which option they choose, I am sure the results will be good.

Matsushita, Hitachi Talking LCD Panel Deal [via digitaltrends]