LG denies withdrawing from Plasma TV market

Posted by Katherine Hannaford on Fri 27 Feb 2009

To Plasma or not to Plasma, that is the question...

Following this morning's story about LG possibly pulling out of the Plasma TV market, T3 spoke to George Mead, the Marketing Manager for Digital Displays at LG Electronics UK - who exclusively told T3 that they have "no intention to withdraw from the Plasma TV market".

We imagine there must be stiff conversations taking place at LG HQ, with their Vice President commenting this week that "if we cannot draw growth strategy, we would make the decision to withdraw within the year".

According to George Mead, this isn't the case. "We appreciate that the global market for Plasma TVs is undergoing some major changes which are, of course, being discussed at LG's global headquarters. However, LG Electronics UK has no intention to withdraw from the Plasma TV market."

Going on, he told T3 "we have recently implemented a bespoke strategy to promote and market Plasma TVs here in the UK. The development of new technologies including our THX certification is a strong indication of the growth opportunities for Plasma TVs in the UK market."

It's possible however that LG could pull out of the Plasma market in the US, whilst remaining in the UK and Europe - much like Philips did last year for both their LCD and Plasma divisions. Still, with so few Plasma manufacturers left (just Panasonic, Samsung and Hitachi), it would be disastrous for the format if LG decides to take the difficult decision to bow out of the market.

Link: LG