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EETimes: Hitachi said it will buy core plasma TV parts from Panasonic-maker Matsushita Electric Industrial as it restructures its loss-making flat TV business in a market dominated by rival LCD technology.

Hitachi, which is struggling with flat TV losses, faces intensifying price competition from bigger TV makers Sony, Sharp, Samsung and LG Electronics.

Hitachi will buy fabricated glass panels — the high-end part of a plasma TV — from Matsushita, in a step that some analysts say could lead to an eventual withdrawal from the business.

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CNet: Toshiba and Matsushita Electric Industrial will jointly manufacture small electroluminescent displays in an effort match the output from Korea-based makers, according to a Japanese report.

The two companies will set up manufacturing lines in the fall of 2009, aiming to produce 1 million “high-quality” 2.5-inch organic EL displays.

This is a first for domestic Japanese production of EL displays on this scale, the report said.

The displays are targeted at cell phones and other small devices.

EL displays are based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that uses electroluminescent organic materials.

The display panels are extremely thin because they don’t need backlights.

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Electronista: A prototype of a light emitting device developed by Matsushita Electric Works (Panasonic) and a Japanese University engineering department that is more efficient and smaller than conventional LEDs was unveiled last week. Unlike fluorescent lamps, such as CCFLs used in HDTVs, the device does not require mercury, using a 5nm or smaller nanosilicon device to create a ballistic electron discharge into xenon gas.

With further development, the nanosilicon LED could be used in future notebook, computer and HDTV screens, extending battery life in portable devices thanks to its efficiency.

The device, developed in conjunction with the Graduate School of Engineering at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, is able to theoretically produce 150 lumens per Watt, its creators claim. In comparison, the most efficient conventional white LEDs produce 80-100 lumens of light per watt. And because its output is not linked to the amount of voltage passed through it, but rather its design, its efficiency can be easily enhanced, Matsushita and the University say.

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Engadget: For the few people who knew the brand Matsushita Electric Industrial, the company is finally, officially going with the Panasonic brand name.

After much deliberation, shareholders approved a proposal to change the company’s name to Panasonic Corporation.

The change will begin in Japan October 1, 2008 with an NYSE symbol change from “MC” to “PC” and will be complete in March 2010 with all products and divisions under the Panasonic moniker.

While this won’t be a big deal to those of us who know Panasonic for its displays and electronics, gone will be the Matsushita battery, ecology, and welding division names.

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Financial Times: In a bid to meet fast-growing demand for liquid crystal display televisions, Matsushita, known for its Panasonic brand, is set to build a LCD factory in western Japan by 2010.

The move will put it head to head against the leading LCD TV makers, such as Samsung, Sharp and Sony.

There is fierce competition for sales between plasma and LCD TVs. Though plasma televisions were cheaper to make in large sizes, manufacturing efficiencies in LCD production have cut costs sharply, meaning that prices are now comparable for most sizes. Many consumers are opting to purchase LCD TVs when they upgrade to flat-screen televisions, due to big price declines and more variety to choose from.

“We think the vertical integration strategy makes sense for Matsushita to expand margins, but investors will be concerned it is abandoning its plasma display panel business,” he said.

The factory, which will be located in western Japan, will have a maximum capacity of 15m units of 32-inch LCD panels a year. The plant will be built by IPS Alpha Technology, which is 50 per cent owned by Hitachi Displays, 30 per cent by Matsushita and 15 per cent by Toshiba.

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Reuters: Panasonic has said it planned to start selling plasma TVs next year that consume half as much power as its current models.

The company also said it had developed a plasma TV just 24.7 mm (1 inch) thick; quarter the thickness of its standard model, and it will start using this technology in products in the business year from April 2009.

Matsushita is the world’s largest maker of plasma TVs, in which it competes with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc.

The company is building the world’s largest plasma panel plant, in western Japan, at a cost of 280 billion yen ($2.6 billion) to cement its market-leading position. The plant will use sheets of motherglass that can yield 16 42-inch panels per sheet, raising its production efficiency, Matsushita Senior Managing Director Toshihiro Sakamoto told a news conference.

The motherglass used at its most recent plant can yield eight 42-inch panels. “At 2,280mm by 3,920mm, it’s even bigger than the sheets used at a 10th-generation LCD plant,” Sakamoto said. Sharp Corp, the world’s third-largest liquid crystal display TV maker after Samsung and Sony Corp, is building a 380 billion yen LCD panel plant that will be the world’s first to use 10th-generation glass measuring 2,850mm by 3,050mm. Shares in Matsushita closed up 1.3 percent at 2,370 yen, outperforming the Nikkei average, which fell 0.8 percent.

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MarketWatch: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday it will formally change its name to Panasonic, its best-known product brand, highlighting the growing importance of brands and marketing in the technology industry.

The move by the Osaka-based company to adopt the Panasonic name under which its household appliances are sold in major markets including the U.S., means that it’s dropping the name of its founder as it ramps up branding efforts outside Japan as a means of combating stagnant demand for its goods at home.

The change, which will be effective Oct. 1. In its statement, Matsushita described the name change as a “step forward to make the company a truly global corporation.”

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PC World: Google is reportedly working with TV maker Matsushita to develop HDTVs that have a direct link to Google-owned YouTube and the Picasa photo sharing services. Reports come by way of CNN Money which is running the story.

Don’t get your hopes on bright and friendly Google-branded TV. Google is only partnering with Matsushita to allow its TVs to stream YouTube video content and access Picasa photos.

Ever since Google purchased YouTube for a hefty $1.65 million, it has been running with and trying new services and features with the booming Web video service. This sounds like a similar deal Google cut with Apple which put a YouTube icon/shorcut directly on the iPhone’s menu.

According to the CNN report, channel surfers will be able to sit on their sofa and navigate content with only their remote control. On the actual TV will likely be an ethernet port or built-in Wi-Fi capability.

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TheStreet.com: Hitachi, Canon and Matsushita have formed an alliance to bolster their liquid crystal display panel businesses.

The announcement highlights the increasing competition in the flat-panel industry. Other players have already teamed up: Sony and Samsung have struck an alliance, as have Sharp and Toshiba.

In a press release Hitachi, Canon and Matsushita said they would “merge their strengths to accelerate the development of cutting-edge display technologies and expand their scope of application.”

The companies said they’ve also reached a basic agreement for Canon and Matsushita each to acquire 24.9% of the shares of Hitachi Displays, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi that builds small and medium-sized LCD panels. They expect the deal to close by March 31, subject to regulatory approval. After the transaction is complete, Hitachi’s stake in its Hitachi Displays unit will be 50.2%.

Global demand for LCD panels is growing as they’re being used in many types of electronic devices, including mobile phones, flat-panel TVs, computer monitors, digital cameras and game consoles.

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TWICE: Kenwood has agreed to merge with Victor Co. of Japan (JVC), under a holding company in 2008, according to a Nikkei report released on Friday.

Kenwood had informed JVC parent Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Friday that it would agree to a proposal for a merger with the struggling subsidiary, according to the report.

Details have yet to be decided by the three companies, which will seek a final agreement by the end of next month, Nikkei reported.

Under the plan, Kenwood will buy 20 billion yen ($161,469,466) in JVC shares as early as this summer, raising its stake to 13 percent, Nikkei said.

The report said Matsushita will sell a portion of its 52.7 percent interest in JVC to Kenwood’s top shareholder, investment firm Sparx Group.

When JVC and Kenwood integrate operations under the holding company in 2008, Matsushita will sell the rest of its JVC shares to the holding company to complete the transaction. The holding company’s stock will be listed instead of Kenwood and JVC, according Nikkei.

Combined group sales at the two companies reached 910 billion yen ($7,346,767,192) for the year ended March 31.

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International Herald Tribune: Matsushita expects to double its production capacity for plasma display panels when a new plant begins production in western Japan in May 2009, a company spokesman said.

The Osaka-based maker of Panasonic-branded electronics plans to manufacture 300,000 42-inch plasma display panels a month at a new plant to be built in the western Japan city of Amagasaki, spokesman Akira Kadota said.

Combined with a planned output increase at another Amagasaki plant that began operating this month, Matsushita will be able to turn out 1.26 million panels a month by May 2009, up from the current 640,000 panels, Kadota said.

Construction of the new plant, Matsushita’s third in Amagasaki, is slated to begin in November, Kadota said. The company currently has four plasma display panel plants in Japan and another one in Shanghai, he added.

The new Amagasaki plant will eventually be able to turn out 1 million plasma displays a month, Kadota said. Matsushita has not yet decided on any production increases after May 2009, he said.

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Daily Yomiuri Online: Matsushita will further develop the manufacture of plasma TVs in the so-called BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China, President Fumio Otsubo said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun.

The firm, which is known for its Panasonic brand products, will begin discussing the scale of the investment by fiscal 2009. It also will consider building one or several new plants in BRIC countries.

Russia, India or both are likely to be chosen as locations for the new plants as the firm is without a production base in either country.

Most of Matsushita’s plasma TV production plants are in Japan, while its overseas plants, including those in Brazil and the Czech Republic, are small except for one in China. Flat-screen TVs are expected to become a mainstream item in BRIC countries, which are undergoing rapid economic growth.

The firm plans to increase its production capability to outpace LCD TV manufacturers in BRIC markets.

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