On 02/06/05 10:24 ET, Dawn Gordon Luks said...
I honestly don't think that Fujitsu is going to
leave the pdp marketplace, they'll probably just
oem the panels like other companies such as Sony.
Don't forget, Fujitsu's best display (the 50")
uses Panasonic glass.
The impression I got is that they WILL shut down their brand. It really doesn't make sense to keep losing money on the rebadged models since they really only compete in flat panels and have no other categories in home entertainment to subsidize the flat panel category.
Sony, JVC, Toshiba and others have relied solely on OEM glass from other manufacturers (including Fujitsu) to cpmpete in the FDP category, but they had a larger picture to think of. They needed to maintain a strong presence in the high end video category and ultimately as a primary home entertainment manufacturer in general.
Also, the other manufacturers listed above could count on add-on sales of matching DVD players, VCR and audio components in a lot of cases (we all know people who buy all Sony), so they may have been able to justify low FDP profitibility as a portion of the overall picture.
Fujitsu's involvement in home entertainment is pretty much strictly plasma, and has been around only since they began offering plasma.
We know that Fujitsu uses a lot of glass from other vendors. The ED 42" model, 50" model, and 63" models are all sourced from other vendors, and fitted with what I feel are superior electronics (because they do look better)
We also know that Fujitsu has subsidized their line by selling OEM glass on the HD 42" and 55" sizes to other vendors.
Now that this most of this OEM money is going to Hitachi, they seem to have little reason to keep the Fujitsu branded line on the market.