Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will follow other major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers by terminating domestic production of cathode-ray tubes (CRT) for television sets, Matsushita officials said Saturday.
The Japanese consumer electronics giant plans to halt domestic production of CRTs for TVs by the end of September 2004 due to price competition from South Korean and Chinese manufacturers and a shrinking market for CRT TVs, the officials said.
Matsushita will focus on domestic production of plasma display TVs, which have higher profit margins, they said.
Matsushita had been the last major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers not to announce plans to halt domestic production of CRT TVs.