Survey: Plasma is Back

After a period of about about six months in which it appeared the technology was falling behind, plasma display panels rebounded in a big way in the third quarter of 2007, thanks to price declines and improved products.

That’s according to a survey released earlier this week from the research firm iSuppli Corp., 3 million plasma panels were shipped worldwide in the third quarter, a jump of 27 percent from the previous quarter and of 15 percent from the same period the year before. The surprise about-face was attributed to “the attractive pricing of television sets [which has] captured the attention of consumers,” iSuppli’s chief TV analyst, Riddhi Patel, said in the introduction to the study.

Patel added that the demand has been strongest for plasma panels 50 inches and larger.

The decline early in 2007 had come mostly due to the rise of LCD TVs, but plasma producers have begun adapting with some success, improving their products and cutting costs thanks to better materials, single-scan technology and lower power consumption.

In terms of market share, Matsushita/Panasonic kept the lead with 30 percent, followed by Samsung SDI and LG Electronics, both with around 29 percent. Those three suppliers together combine for 88.1 percent of worldwide plasma production. Unit production is expected to reach 20.1 million by 2011, doubling the current amount.

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