LG goes small with latest plasma
Facing growing competition from LCDs and coming OLEDs, it goes after the more affordable 32-inch market.
(Credit:
LG)
It's not often--if ever--that a TV maker brags about a smaller model these days, unless it's talking about some type of new technology. Yet that's just what LG is doing this week in announcing what it calls "the world's only 32-inch plasma."
There are a lot of reasons for this, one of them being that this size is the fastest-growing segment in the industry primarily for price but also for the "second TV" market, as noted by Slippery Brick. And LG and other plasma makers are responding as much to competition as they are opportunities, caught between growing pressure from LCDs and the rapid development of ultra-thin OLED screens.
No matter what, flat-screen manufacturers can't complain too much given the stratospheric growth they've experienced in such a short time. It's only been a couple of years since plasmas and LCDs have taken off among the masses, after all, and they're already talking about second sets. Maybe what the plasma makers really need to do is focus on the pirate market.
