Pioneer has decided that plasma screens are too expensive to make and has given up on the technology.

The company, which has financial problems, has decided to kill off the technology and buy it, when it needs to, from rival Matsushita Electric Industrial.

Pioneer was once a technology leader in the making of plasmas, but has lost the field to Matsushita, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics. In an official statement, Pioneer said that maintaining the cost competitiveness of plasma display panels will be difficult.

According to AP, Pioneer has to do something to turn itself around fairly quickly. It is posting a loss after restructuring its PDP TV business. Axing plasma will mean that the company returns to profit by 2010.

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