The FINANCIAL — Panasonic Corp. said it will partner with Best Buy Co., America's leading electronics retailer, to market and boost the sales of its 3D TVs in the United States, the Nikkei business daily reported on March 7.
Launching on Wednesday in the U.S., Panasonic's 3-D televisions are a critical part of the Japanese electronics giant's strategy to reverse losses at its television operation, which was in the red last year and is forecast to incur a loss for the current fiscal year ending March 31, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company also hopes to revive demand for its plasma displays with its 3-D models. Plasma, which is better suited for 3-D due to its faster response, has lost ground in recent years to the more popular liquid crystal displays.
Panasonic said it aims to sell 1 million 3-D televisions in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, with half of the sales being targeted for the U.S. market, the same source reports. The company's president, Fumio Ohtsubo, told reporters he expects the TV business to return to profit in the next fiscal year, helped in part by 3-D television sales.
According to The Street, Panasonic's launch in the U.S. comes amid growing rivalry with TV makers such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sony.
Best Buy will set up special exhibition corners where its customers can view 3D videos in its 300 stores in major U.S. cities, Reuters reports. This will expand to 1,000 stores by the end of the year, the Nikkei reported.
The Wall Street Journal reports that details of the alliance between Panasonic and Best Buy first appeared in Japan's Nikkei newspaper on Sunday. Officials at Best Buy weren't immediately available for comment.
According to the same source, Panasonic's 3D TVs in the United States will be about 30 percent cheaper than those that go on sale in Japan in April, but will not have internet access capabilities. A 50-inch TV will cost about $2,500 in the United States, the Nikkei said.
The latest popularity of 3-D has pushed electronics makers to introduce new televisions and Blu-ray players to promote 3-D, The Money Times reports. According to research firm DisplaySearch, global shipments of televisions capable of viewing 3-D video are predicted to grow at 1.2 million units in 2010. In 2013, the shipments are forecasted to rise to 15.6 million units. The number was only 200,000 in 2009.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this year, Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc. and Sony Corp.—the world's three largest television brands—are also targeting the 3-D market with new televisions of their own.
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