Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc. said on Tuesday it would start producing rear projection televisions later this year, aiming to secure a chunk of the rapidly growing market for big screen TVs. Canon also said it plans to invest in a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel joint venture by Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.
It added, however, that details of the planned investment, including the size of the stake, have yet to be decided and it had no plan to make LCD televisions. "We are aiming to offer rear projection TVs on a commercial basis by the end of the year. Since they are to be used at schools and other public facilities, we don't expect them to sell as well as consumer goods," a Canon spokesman said. The rear projection TVs would be the second flat-panel TVs for Canon, which also plans to launch surface conduction electron emitter display (SED) TVs this year.
News source: Reuters
