Samsung to kill plasma TVs, focus on UHD and curved TVs instead

Samsung has decided to stop making plasma TVs after this year, as market demand for such devices is apparently not that great anymore.

The company follows in the footsteps of Panasonic, announcing that it will put an end to production of Samsung plasma TVs in 2014.

According to several reports, including a report from Reuters, Samsung said the reason behind its decision is a decline in overall demand for plasma TVs. Instead of making products that are no longer in demand, Samsung plans to focus its resources on its energy and materials business.

"We plan to continue our PDP TV business until the end of this year, due to changes in market demands," Samsung told CNET in a statement. "We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their needs, and will increase our focus on growth opportunities in UHD TV's and Curved TV's," the company further added.

Moreover, 4K TVs are gaining momentum and becoming increasingly popular, but Samsung said it's quite difficult to make 4K plasma TVs in a cost-effective manner. Consequently, the company thinks it's better to stop producing plasma TVs altogether after 2014 and go with what's currently in demand.

Truth be told, plasma TVs have been around for a long time and it's only natural that newer technology would take its place. Fujitsu was the first to introduce a full color plasma TV back in 1992, i.e. more than two decades ago. Two years later, in 1994, Fujitsu launched its first 42-inch plasma TV.

It was a great innovation at the time and plasma TVs enjoyed wide popularity. They continued to soar until a few years ago, but back in 2006 sales of LCD TVs overtook sales of plasma TVs for the first time. That marked the beginning of the end for plasma TVs, and today we have a much wider range of choices, including LCD, LED, OLED, and others.

Panasonic gave up on making plasma TVs last year, Samsung is now taking the same decision, and LG Electronics will reportedly head down the same road soon.

"Industry watchers say LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's No. 2 tech giant, will also discontinue its PDP business in the near future, noting that it has already converted one of its PDP production lines to make solar batteries," reads a new report from the Yonhap News Agency, as cited by CNET.