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By: Richard Del Cazzo
Web site: http://www.hdtv-hdtv.com
Pioneer Corp, vying for leadership in the plasma display
market as it quadruples capacity, will accelerate the start
of a production line by more than a month to meet demand for
televisions, company president Kaneo Ito said.
Pioneer will move forward expansion for the second time in
six months to remain competitive.
"We will start mass production by the end of this year
at the latest," Ito said in an interview.
The earlier plan was for a January 2005, start.
Surging global demand for flat-screen televisions has forced
Pioneer into a race to expand against bigger rivals such as
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and Suwon, South Korea-based
Samsung Electronics Co. Ito in February said Tokyo-based Pioneer's
purchase of NEC Corp's plasma display operations was necessary
to ensure survival in the market as competition increased.
"An earlier start gives Pioneer more time to lower production
costs before the following holiday shopping season,"
said Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Kazuharu Miura, who
has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Bottom-line
benefits will only be visible after the business year beginning
April next year, he added.
Pioneer sold 160,000 plasma television sets under its own
brand in the year to March 31, almost all that it was able
to make, Ito said. The company also makes plasma monitors
used in airports and stores.
Pioneer shares were unchanged ?3,180 as of 9:33am Japan time
on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. They have risen 40
percent in the past 12 months, lagging the 57 percent rise
in the Topix Electrical Machinery Index of Japanese electrical
and electronic appliance makers.
The company in January raised its estimate for the industry's
global plasma panel sales. For the year ending March 2006,
demand is expected to rise to 3.65 million units, up 82 percent
from the year ago period and up 7 percent from the initial
forecast. The Summer Olympics in August and the European soccer
championship in June will also help boost sales.
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