A new report from Japan says that Panasonic is planning to leave the TV business, and will focus its future efforts on building LCD panels for tablets and other small devices, Apple’s iPad in particular.
The details come from Japanese business newspaper Diamond Online, which were translated by Macotakara on Tuesday. It indicated that although LCD TV sets were the main product line for Panasonic, the company apparently plans to exit that business.
In place of TVs, Panasonic reportedly will be attempting to enter the more profitable LCD panels business, specializing in portable electronics. Panasonic is said to be particularly interested in making its way into Apple’s supply chain for the company’s popular iPad.
The report says that Panasonic has already provided samples of high-resolution LCD panels to Apple, and that the company “seems to be satisfied” with the provided samples.
Apple had experienced problems earlier this year during the launch of its iPad with Retina Display, as suppliers were having struggles with the production of the high-resolution screens for the device. Only Samsung was able to provide the panels in a large enough quantity for the launch, with both Sharp and LG joining in later after their production yield issues were worked out.
Reuters reports that Panasonic is not exiting the LCD and plasma television business completely, but will be cutting production to focus on production of the smaller LCD panels.
