Hitachi Abandons CRT Monitor

Call it writing on the wall, or on the screen: Tokyo-based Hitachi Ltd. announced today that it’s decided to get out of the CRT monitor business and “concentrate resources on flat panel displays, particularly TFT LCDs.”

By the end of 2001, the company says, it will halt production of conventional monitors at its plants in Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia; the three factories produced approximately five million CRTs in fiscal year 2000.

According to Hitachi, a sluggish desktop PC market has reduced demand for CRT monitors, leading to a plunge in prices despite the company’s endeavors to boost its profitability by offering short-length and flat-face rather than generic CRTs.

“Moreover, with future demand expected to shift to LCD monitors,” explains the company statement, “there are no prospects for growth of the monitor CRT market.”

Hitachi promises a flat-panel product line ranging from little LCDs for mobile phones to big screens for multimedia applications, including PC monitors using what it calls Super TFT technology for wide viewing angles and fast motion with no ghosting.

–Eric Grevstad is managing editor of HardwareCentral.