World's biggest plasma TV on sale in September
12:10pm 19th July 2006
The makers of Panasonic equipment are to start taking orders in Japan for a 103-inch plasma TV, the world's largest.
A model stands beside a screen to illustrate the sheer scale of the 103 inch plasma
Matsu****a Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. announced today that the first orders would be taken on September 1.
Matsu****a said shipments could start as early as the end of September, and it expects the TV to sell in Japan for around 6 million yen ($50,000).
Matsu****a, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, has said it aims to sell 5,000 units of the 103-inch plasma panels per year worldwide, with TV demand counting for a little less than 20 percent of that figure.
Measuring 2.4 metres by 1.4 metres and weighing 215 kg, the 103-inch panel is bigger than a double-sized mattress and almost as heavy as an upright piano.
The plasma panel used in the Matsu****a TV will be just one inch larger measured diagonally than a 102-inch model developed by Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. The South Korean company has not launched the model commercially.
Matsu****a held a 21.6 per cent share of the global plasma TV market in January-March, followed by LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. according to DisplaySearch.
Shares of Matsu****a were up 1.44 per cent in afternoon trade, outperforming a 1.15 per cent rise in the Nikkei average.
