HORSEHEADS, N.Y.– One-day after Panasonic executives announced plans to end CRT-based rear-projection TV production, the Matsushita-Toshiba Picture Display joint-venture picture tube factory, here, notified workers that it will end production operations Dec. 29, according to a report in the Elmira Star-Gazette.
The announcement was seen by industry observers as one more sign that flat-panel television and microdisplay technologies are rapidly replacing the cathode-ray tube, which has ruled the television roost since the birth of technology.
It was also another in a list of TV factories in the United States shuttered in the past year in favor of more competitive Asian-made goods.
The joint venture company, which had been in place for the last 12 months, had primarily produced large screen CRT picture tubes.
Most recently, the Horseheads, N.Y., plant had been used to manufacture 32-inch and 36-inch picture tubes for a category of televisions that has come under increasing price pressure from the explosive growth in flat-panel plasma and LCD television imports.
The MT Picture Display Company will continue to manufacture large-tube CRTs at its Troy, Ohio facility.
For more details on the Horseheads plant closing, seeTWICE.com
