Sony Pulls Plug On CRT TVs March 04, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD , Home Entertainment , LCD , TV

After 40 years of making Trinitron TV tubes for fat tellys, Sony is pulling the plug and will stop production of all cathode ray tubes (CRTs) later this month.

Sony started producing CRTs back in 1965 and in 1968, the Trinitron brand was created. In that time, 280 million CRT TVs were sold and at its peak in 2000, the production lines were churning out 20 million CRTs a year for TVs and PC monitors. And today?

Sony’s CRT production in the year to March has dropped off by 40% from 2007 to 2.8 million units. On the flip side, the company’s production of LCD panels will soon exceed 10 million units. Japanese CRT production plants closed in 2004 and most of the Trinitron CRTs produced in recent times were for the Far East and Central American markets.

At one time most of the big computer companies - IBM, Dell, Apple etc.- rebranded Trinitron CRTs for their own monitors because they were considered to be the best.

While I feel a tiny twinge at the demise of a such a well known brand, I’m far happier with all the space I now have on my desktop thanks to LCDs.-Martin Lynch

[Marketwatch]

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