Pioneer TVs officially no more

High definition televisions from Pioneer are yet another casualty of a poor economy, as the company announced it will pull out of the business by March 2010.

“Recent market conditions have changed far more than initially anticipated,” a company press release says, “and Pioneer has decided to withdraw from the display business after concluding that there are no prospects for improving profitability under current conditions.”

Panasonic will also terminate 6,000 jobs worldwide and cut 4,000 temporary employees, after doing nearly the same thing last year. Roughly 9 production facilities around the world are going to close.

On the bright side, anyone who purchases a Pioneer TV before the company quits the business will still receive after-sales support.

News of Pioneer’s decision started coming in earlier this week. The company never denied the reports but said it was still actively evaluating its business. Now, it’s official, but not a huge surprise given that Pioneer’s fourth quarter share of the plasma TV market dropped to 2.6 percent, down 9 percent year over year, according to DisplaySearch.

In the future, Pioneer will put its energy into audio products, DJ equipment and set-top boxes. “We will focus on our specialization in ’sound,’” the company said. It will also shift more attention to car electronics, including an expansion of Blu-ray models.

It was reported earlier that Pioneer may work with Sharp in the DVD player business. Pioneer doesn’t mention that company specifically in its statement, but said it is considering “a joint venture” in optical discs.

The company had hoped to save itself by getting out of the plasma business, but last fall’s economic collapse “far outweighed” any of its previous cost-saving measures, the company said. As some of our commenters attested earlier this week, Pioneer high-quality televisions will be missed by those who could afford them, but many people can’t spend the extra cash for preimum products right now.