Panasonic Corp said its TV business will likely turn profitable in the financial year from April after two straight years of losses, thanks to cost-cutting and the launch of higher-margin 3D TVs.
On its group performance, company president Fumio Ohtsubo told media on March 03 that posting a net loss in the next business year is not an option. Panasonic is forecasting a net loss of 140 billion yen ($1.6 billion) for the current year to March 31.
"We will be cutting costs, and we expect 3D TVs to bring more added-value to our products. I cannot say anything definite for the new year, but our TV operation will likely shed its loss-making status," Ohtsubo said.
Panasonic is the world's fourth-largest flat TV maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics Inc and Sony Corp. It plans to launch 3D TVs on April 23 in Japan. In a move to boost its company-wide profitability, Panasonic last month raised its target for fixed-cost reductions by 42 percent to 370 billion yen for the year ending in March.
"After posting a net loss for the 2008/09 and 2009/10 business years, a third straight loss for the next year would just be unacceptable," Ohtsubo said.