Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: pioneer, hdtv, kuro, plasma, elite | Themes: Digital Entertainment, Display Panels and Monitors, Home Theater
Home theater aficionados have a reason to be sad today, as Pioneer is reportedly exiting the television business.
While not as common as the likes of Sony, Samsung or Panasonic, anyone familiar with home theaters will tell you that Pioneer made some of the best gear money could buy. The Pioneer Elite series was always revered, and its Kuro line of plasma televisions always finished at the top of the class.
Sadly, stunning picture quality wasn’t enough to keep Pioneer’s TV division afloat, as according to the Nikkei publication, the Japanese company is ditching the flat panel business altogether.
Pioneer had already planned changes to its TV business by outsourcing panel production to Panasonic -- another maker of high quality plasmas televisions. Panasonic, however, just announced a delay in the opening of its new plasma production plant, according to HDGuru. The delay in facilities coming online combined with the less than favorable economic conditions are likely to have forced Pioneer to abandon the TV market.
It appears the days of straight-Pioneer DVD players are numbered too, as the company plans to spin off its disc playing machines as part of a joint venture with Sharp.
The Nikkei also reported that Pioneer will be shedding thousands of jobs over the next year amidst losses of more than 100 billion yen (over $1 billion).
Pioneer Kuro, you will be missed.
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They made some great TV's but my brand loyalty to the three water chestnuts doesn't allow me to say they were the best.
O_O
lol i can't believe ive had a mitsubishi tv, insignia tv, and westinghouse monitor before ive had a pioneer one... maybe some price cuts were in order?
too expensive, priced themselves out of market
too expensive, priced themselves out of market
No kidding, $1000 more than my Samsung A750 for slightly deeper blacks......I guess if you have the money to burn, just not anymore.
the pioneer elite was the tv you aimed to get. maybe now i can get one if they have to drop their prices.
With so many people buying Vizio, Insignia (Best Buy), Philips (Funai), and Westinghouse (Chi Mei Optoelectronics) I am not surprised. Japanese make the best electronics but they shouldn’t expect American or European to buy them considering American are still using window AC units and European don’t have AC at all.
This will not be the last manufacturer to ditch the market in the next few years. The market is getting flooded with cheap TV's. You get what you pay for generally, but the average consumer doesn't care.
Hell Best Buy doesn't even show off it's 1080p TV's in 1080p half the time. I called out a salesperson who swore the video on a TV was showing 1080p.....I asked him why it always said 1080i in the corner when I checked all the inputs. Anyway I wouldn't buy a TV from them anyway.
too expensive, priced themselves out of market
If they had only hired you as an advisor...
There's always a premium for the highest-end hardware. I guess there weren't enough rich tv enthusiasts.
too expensive, priced themselves out of market
You get what you pay for.
I got a Pioneer Elite receiver and DVD player a few years back. Decidedly NOT cheap - but they sound great, and I'll have a great amp for a long time.
I cant speak for their TVs. My Samsung 970p does everything I need.
the Kuros non-elite just recently got a nice price drop. You can now get them for a similar price than what was available during boxing day sales (~2600-2700$CAD). Still 500-600$ more expensive than similar sized screens from other manufacturers but some say it is worth it.
To replace those as the "best hdtv", look out for the new line of Vizio. Apparently, based purely on the specs, it should be pretty damned good.
Pioneer has always been aiming for the best.
Even in the days of the Laserdisk they where the ones bringing out the first and best movies!
They produced the best cassettes (audio tapes)
They produced very high quality Hifi stereo amplifiers and audio systems, mixingboards,DJ stuff, and TV's as well.
They where priced high, because they always did first what another company later copied,and they created GOOD quality stuff!
Stuff that last!
(Panasonic,Sony, LG, and a lot of brands out today) followed all in the trail or shadow of Pioneer!
ProDigit80 is exactly right on the money. When Pioneer produced the first generation Kuro sets, the Industry took note and saw how important Black level is. Deep Blacks breathes life into Color, and provides depth and scale in the image. Now, every manufacturer of TV's are trying to get deep blacks. The one thing Samsung, LG, Sony, and Panasonic can't do is re-create Pioneer's Video Processing Asic. None of them can produce Film accuracy like the Pioneer Kuro. All of Samsung's images look like cartoons, very unnatural. They can't touch a Kuro!!!
So the question is, does one buy the Pioneer or go with a Panasonic from a technical support/repair standpoint. Pioneer won't go away, but will the parts and service be there eight to ten years from now.