Panasonic expects slide in Plasma sales

Matsushita, which manufactures electronic products under the Panasonic brand name, expects demand for large plasma televisions (37 inches and over) to slide in the next two years from 40 percent to 30 percent of the market.

However, the company then expects sales of large plasma televisions to hold steady.

Matsushita plans to invest $2.3 billion over the next two years to maintain its position as world’s biggest maker of plasma TVs. The investment will double Matsushita’s plasma capacity.

Plasma TVs are facing increasing competition from LCD (liquid crystal display) models. While plasma is self-illuminating LCD requires backlighting, giving Plasma the edge in picture reproduction quality.

However LCD technology for larger screens is improving significantly and plasma has already lost some share of the flat-screen market.

Matsushita expects demand for flat-panel TV’s of 30 inches and above to account for 50% of the market by 2010.