Hitachi and Panasonic get in bed over flat-panel screens

The flat-panel biz tends to be like an old folks home, with everyone sleeping around. The latest hook-up is the signing of a “memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation with the goal of further promoting and strengthening the flat-panel TV and display panel for TV businesses’ by Hitachi and Panasonic.

The two companies are going to work together to promote the plasma biz, while Panasonic will pump out the PDP glass for both of ‘em. LCD product will be taken care of through the companies joint venture of IPS Alpha Technology. To be honest, this seems like a normal event in the ever-changing flat-panel market.

For instance, Pioneer now uses Panasonic made PDP panels that are made in this joint venture with Hitichi and its LCDs come from Sharp. Samsung and Sony share most LCD panels together through a joint venture called S-LCD.

Just because the panels come from the same plant, doesn’t mean they will perform the same. Most of the time, the secret behind the image are the processors involved and features included.