Pioneer Likely Leaving the TV Biz

Several reports from Japan and elsewhere say that Pioneer will cease production of high definition televisions. Nikkei News reportedly got confirmation that the high quality but money-losing line of HDTVs will be no more. Pioneer already closed its plasma panel factory last year, opting to outsource the job to Panasonic, but the company said it would continue to design and manufacture Pioneer-branded HDTVs. If the news of closing down is true, chalk it up to the bad economy, which caused Panasonic to delay the opening of a new plasma panel factory by six months. Pioneer USA is keeping mum on the reports, saying it doesn’t comment on “rumors and speculation.” The company already announced that it was “actively evaluating” the business, and that’s still happening now, Pioneer maintains. [HDGuru via CrunchGear]