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Matsushita to Stop Developing Analog TVs for Domestic Market

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 18:02 CST

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jan. 18--OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. will stop developing analog televisions for the Japanese market in view of the end of analog broadcasting in Japan in 2011, company officials said Wednesday.

As more consumers are expected to switch to products for digital broadcasting, all new TVs to be launched by the maker of Panasonic-brand consumer electronics from Feb. 1 will be digital, the officials said.

Matsushita will continue production and sales of exiting analog models due to considerable demand for them, especially low-priced products. It will also continue to develop new analog TVs for overseas markets.

The company forecasts that its domestic TV sales will come to about 2.3 million units for the current business year through March 31. Analog TVs are expected to account for some 30 percent.

While plasma display panel TVs made by Matsushita are all digital, about 80 percent of its cathode-ray tube TVs and part of its liquid crystal display models are analog.

Service areas of digital broadcasting, which features high-quality picture, sound and multi-channel capability, have expanded mainly in urban districts. More than 80 percent of households throughout Japan will be able to use the service at the end of this year, according to the Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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MC, 6752,

Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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