Panasonic's exit from plasma would sour TV value sweet spot

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

It's no secret that we at CNET, along with most other TV reviewers who pay attention to picture quality, love Panasonic plasmas. Just look at our current "Best TVs" list. The top four are all plasma TVs made by Panasonic.

Editor's Note

It should be noted that Panasonic did not release its ZT-series plasma TVs in Asia. All prices indicated in this article are for the US market.

They include the high-end ZT60, which has the best picture of any TV we've ever reviewed, and the entry-level S60, one of only two TVs this year to earn a "10" in our Value subcategory.

Even more important is the ST60, which is the only TV CNET has ever given a 5-star rating. The reason? It delivers unprecedented picture quality for the price, representing a true sweet spot between value and performance.

Now a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources, says that Panasonic will shutter its last plasma TV factory by March 2014. If that's the case, it would make those 2013 Panasonic plasmas the last of their kind.

CNET reached out to Panasonic for additional comment, but we were given nothing beyond the statement provided to other publications: nothing official has been announced or decided yet.

The news might come earlier than expected, but the writing was on the wall. Plasma has been losing market share every year to LCD, and Panasonic has been posting losses and shedding jobs at a tremendous clip. President Kazuhiro Tsuga vowed to address the situation with cuts, and CNET was told in March that the ZT60 would likely represent the last generation of plasma TV development the company would undertake.

Panasonic nonetheless fielded a healthy lineup of the TVs this year, appearing at least for 2013 to redouble its commitment to plasma. That commitment is anything but certain for 2014.

Wider implications

Companies struggle and technologies get phased out on a regular basis. And I may be biased as someone who makes his living reviewing TVs, but in my opinion this is different. The loss of Panasonic plasmas would be a huge blow to TV buyers who want the best picture quality for the money. Here's why.

First off, plasma is the king of affordable picture quality. The 50-inch S60 costs just US$699, and no other TV at that price range comes close to its performance. The ST60, at US$999 for the 50-incher, has a picture that makes LED TVs priced hundreds more look mediocre. Meanwhile Samsung's best plasma was good enough to hold its own next to an OLED TV at three times the price.

The loss of Panasonic plasmas would be a huge blow to TV buyers who want the best picture quality for the money.

These days only three companies make plasma TVs: LG, Samsung, and Panasonic. In 2013 LG basically abandoned the game by only producing one non-bargain-basement plasma, in just one size. It's a decent value at 60 inches, but its picture quality was no better than many LED TVs'. I wouldn't be surprised if LG also stopped making plasmas next year.

Samsung, meanwhile, pared its line down to just three series. The high-end PNF8500 is phenomenal, a truly innovative model (thanks to its high light output) that was the only 2013 television aside from Panasonic plasmas to score a "9" or higher in picture quality. It also costs nearly twice as much as the ST60, which also scored a 9.

Unfortunately Samsung didn't field any midrange plasma TVs this year that can compete with the S60 and ST60 for picture quality. The closest was the PNE550, a solid performer and an excellent value, but nothing like 2012's superb PNE6500 -- still the highest-rated Samsung TV we've ever reviewed.

The future without Panasonic plasma: Samsung, OLED, and LCD

Unless Samsung picks up the slack in 2014 with a series or two of excellent-performing, well-priced plasmas like the S60, the ST60, and the PNE6500, I predict a big hole in the market where Panasonic used to be.

And with competition from Panasonic gone, Samsung will have little reason to fill it. I've often told people that comparing Samsung and Panasonic plasmas is the best part of my job. And I'm not the only one -- plasma TVs from those two makers regularly trade wins for supremacy at the well-regarded Value Electronics shootout. Variations of "Which plasma should I get, the Samsung 8500 or the Panasonic VT/ZT?" are among my most common reader questions this year