Business - Panasonic becomes first to roll out 300 millionth TV

OSAKA: Panasonic Corp became the world's first television manufacturer to have rolled out a total of 300 million TVs, the leading Japanese consumer
electronics maker said. Panasonic, which changed its corporate name last week from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, said the production threshold was achieved on the 56th year since the company began producing black-and-white cathode-ray tube TVs in 1952, one year before full-scale TV broadcasting started in Japan . In 1960, Panasonic became the first maker of colour TVs in Japan, the Osaka-based company said. Cumulative TV output by Panasonic reached 100 million units in 1985 and 200 million in 1998. Panasonic released its Viera flat-panel digital TVs in 2003 to coincide with the launch of terrestrial digital broadcasting in Japan. The total production of 300 million TVs consists of 277 million cathode-ray tube TVs, 13 million plasma TVs and 10 million liquid crystal display TVs. Panasonic said it intends to accelerate efforts to develop "ultra-large and super-thin" display panels and improve its wireless technologies to boost the link between TVs and other electronics appliances, with the aim of clearing a cumulative output of 400 million TVs within the next decade.