X

Pioneer confirms that it's leaving the TV business

The Japanese manufacturer plans to consolidate its focus on home theater and car electronics. It expects to slash 10,000 jobs (6,000 full-time, 4,000 part-time) as a result.

Headshot of John Falcone
Headshot of John Falcone
John Falcone Senior Editorial Director, Shopping
John P. Falcone is the senior director of commerce content at CNET, where he coordinates coverage of the site's buying recommendations alongside the CNET Advice team (where he previously headed the consumer electronics reviews section). He's been a CNET editor since 2003.
Expertise Over 20 years experience in electronics and gadget reviews and analysis, and consumer shopping advice Credentials
  • Self-taught tinkerer, informal IT and gadget consultant to friends and family (with several self-built gaming PCs under his belt)
John Falcone
Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD
Goodbye, Kuro: We had a lot of great times--and even greater contrast ratios--together Pioneer

It's a rumor no more: Pioneer has confirmed that it's exiting the TV business.

The Japanese manufacturer announced that it will stop producing TVs by March 2010, and instead focus on its existing car electronics and home audio-video lines. The company expects to slash 10,000 jobs (6,000 full-time, 4,000 part-time) as a result.

To date, the company's Kuro line of HDTVs were widely regarded as the best-in-class plasma displays available--check out CNET's review of the Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD, for example.

The Pioneer announcement comes just hours after Vizio announced that it would stop producing plasmas and focus solely on LCD panels instead. The departure of Pioneer and Vizio from the market leaves just three major manufacturers producing plasma TVs: Panasonic, LG, and Samsung.

Full details on the story are available at TWICE.