GigaOM Pro

Summary:

Back in 1998, plasma TVs burst onto the scene with new, flat, high-definition displays. Despite their high price point, they sparked the imagination of TV viewers worldwide. In the years that followed, prices for plasma sets fell rapidly, and soon they were within reach of a many buyers. But 11 years later, plasma has fallen on hard times. One-time champions of the technology — such as Pioneer, Sony and Vizio — have abandoned the market. While LG and Samsung still have some plasma products, only Panasonic remains as the stalwart defender of the plasma faith. And even Panasonic is increasing its play in the LCD market these days, clearly hedging its bets in spite of recent investments to double its plasma panel production capacity. So, what happened?