If a report by Digitimes is accurate, LG will quit production of plasma HDTVs this year.
However, LG has vehemently denied the rumor and demanded that Digitimes either pull the article from its Web site "or add a statement from LG that this story was speculative and completely without merit," The New York Times' Gadgetwise reports.
“Not only is LG not planning to exit the PDP business, we are looking forward to keeping our plasma TV business viable as long as there is demand for our products," the company said. "As we reported in our first quarter earnings report earlier this week, PDPs continue to be a profitable business for LG.”
Digitimes has appended a paraphrased quote along those lines to the end of its article.
As the Times' Eric Taub says, typically a company's attempts at denying a rumor are calmer in tone, and one can usually tell between the lines of corporate-speak whether a rumor is being swatted down or simply not confirmed. In this case, however, LG went into full attack mode.
There's still the possibility that LG is just posturing, as Digitimes said the company was in the middle of negotiations to sell its equipment and resources to China-based Changhong, but that's also "speculative and without merit".
Either way, the rumor is inticing given Vizio's recent decision to discontinue its plasma line and Pioneer's exit from HDTVs altogether. LCDs have caught up to plasma in many aspects, but there's still a contingent of consumers that's willing to pay a premium for better blacks and wider viewing angles. According to LG, they'll keep making plasmas as long as this contingent stays strong enough to generate profit.
