Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced on Nov. 1 it will downsize its liquid crystal display television (LCD TV) business, effectively withdrawing from producing TVs.

It had already ended shipping of its TVs to large-scale electronics retail stores in September and will finish up shipments to affiliated small appliance dealers in March 2024.

The major electronics maker will not sell its television business arm to other firms and will instead wind the operation down entirely.

“It became difficult to maintain product competitiveness due to changes in markets,” a company official said.

Sharp Corp., Sony Group Corp. and Panasonic Corp. will continue to produce televisions and sell them.

Mitsubishi Electric launched an LCD TV called Real in 2004. It features a high-quality speaker and an auto-turn function, which allows the user to change the direction of the screen by using a remote.

The products were designed and developed at Mitsubishi Electric’s Kyoto Works in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, and manufactured at factories in Thailand.

According to BCN Inc., a survey firm on the home electrical appliance market, Mitsubishi Electric had a 1.9 percent sales share of flat-screen televisions to consumers through electronics retail stores in 2020.

Its share peaked at 3.5 percent in 2010 and 2011 but was lower than those of Sharp and Sony.

It will stop selling its televisions at large-scale electronics retail shops but will continue to ship them to small, affiliated dealers until March 2024 because they rely on its brand products. The Thai factories will be responsible for manufacturing those products. It plans to continue its related follow-up servicing.

Kyoto Works plans to shift from the television business to other home electronic appliances expected to be more profitable, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, rice cookers and vacuum cleaners.

Mitsubishi Electric said it will retain the personnel involved in its television business.

The electronics maker enjoys brisk sales of automated equipment for factories. But it has launched a review of its management after revelations surfaced in the media about widespread testing fraud.

Profitability of the television business has dropped, and it is costly to launch new products, such as new OLED televisions.

The company judged it to be too difficult to restore the business and it is likely to further strengthen its “selection and concentration” downsizing policy.

FROM JAPANESE SPECIALTY TO FOREIGN DOMINANCE

In the past, Japan gained a reputation for producing excellent televisions, and the products became major sellers for domestic electronics giants.

In the 2000s, tube televisions were replaced with flat LCD TVs. Around the same time, analog broadcasting switched to digital, which temporarily boosted production.

But more recently, foreign firms, including Samsung Electronics Co., have been emerging as leaders in liquid crystal panel production, squeezing profits in the television manufacturing business.

A string of firms began to give up on making televisions entirely.

Hitachi Ltd., which was developing the Wooo brand, ceased production in 2012 and ended its domestic sales in 2018.

Toshiba Corp. sold its television arm to the Chinese electronic giant Hisense Group Co. in 2018.

TVS Regza, which is 95 percent funded by Hisense and 5 percent by Toshiba, produces and sells televisions under the Regza brand.

The Fukaya factory in Saitama Prefecture started operations as Japan’s first plant dedicated to exclusively making color televisions in 1965. It changed what it was producing over the years and adapted to the times to continue operations. But it finally closed at the end of September.

The three electronic giants that make and sell their own television brands are focusing on reinforcing their high-end products, which are easier to watch and can be connected to the internet.

They want to avoid competing for prices with foreign firms and continue with their TV businesses.

Sharp Corp., under the umbrella of Taiwanese Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has a large market share because of its popular Aquos brand, known for its Kameyama model.

Panasonic Corp. withdrew from plasma TV sales in 2014 but will continue to produce and sell its Viera brand.

(This article was written by Koichi Murakami and Osamu Uchiyama.)