Driving the resurgence of Plasma HDTVs, Panasonic Corporation of North America, the industry and technology leader in High Definition and Full HD 3D televisions, recently announced pricing and availability for its award winning 2011 Viera Plasma line-up. This announcement coincides with Display Search’s recent analysis and conclusion that 2010 was a great year for Plasma TV panels, with shipments growing on a Year/Year basis every quarter since Q4 ’09. NPD also produced data showing a growth in Plasma sales.

In a February 3, 2011 report – Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, Display Search reported:

* Q4 ’10 Plasma TV panel shipments grew 1% Q/Q (Quarter-Quarter) and 9% Y/Y
* After falling from 15.1 million in 2008 to 14.8 million in 2009, Plasma TV panel shipments jumped to 19.1 million in 2010
* Panasonic was a top panel supplier in 2010, with a 22% Y/Y (Year-Year) growth on a unit basis

The report further stated that, “Plasma TVs were well-suited for consumer’s purchasing habits in 2010, providing the most affordable large flat panel TVs for many consumers. In addition the strong industry push for 3D TV helped, as some reviewers and consumers concluded that Plasma TV had superior 3D performance compared to LCD TV, at least in terms of flicker.”

Ken Park, Display Search Senior Analyst for Korea TV Market Research added, “With 3D functionality, Plasma can re-position itself as a lasting technology in the TV industry.”

The NPD Group also reported that Plasma sales were on the rise. The Port Washington, N.Y. based market research firm reports that the Green Bay Packers weren’t the only big winners of the Super Bowl: Sales of plasma TVs jumped 45% in units, and 11% in dollars during Super Bowl week, compared to the same period last year. About half of those sales were of 50-inch plasma sets, with an average price of $670, down $170 from last year. The average price of 42-inch plasmas fell $100 to $451, according to NPD.

Panasonic’s 2011 Plasma line-up features TVs in the following screen sizes- 42-inch class (41.6″ measured diagonally); 46-inch class (46″ measured diagonally); 50-inch class (49.9″ measured diagonally); 55-inch class (55.1″ measured diagonally); 60-inch class (60.1″ measured diagonally) and 65-inch class (64.7″ measured diagonally). Following on the critical success of last years Full HD 3D Plasmas (named best in show at the 2010 CES Convention), Panasonic introduced three full HD 3D model lines for 2011- the VT30, GT30 and ST30. In addition, Panasonic offers the S30 and V30 series in traditional 2D 1080p technology, for a total of 19 Plasma screens available in 2011.