The Great Kuro Sorrow

By Fred Manteghian • Posted: Feb 7, 2009

Here's the thing about a sagging world economy, it puts a damper on the number of yachts being sold. Or in this case, the yachts of the plasma TV world. Pioneer, recognized by all as manufacturing the best plasma TV, at a price that naturally reflects its quality, is throwing in the towel, if this report is to be believed. The Kuro line of plasma TVs is just a production run away from coming to a close and the planned switch to Panasonic glass to reduce cost is now also falling by the wayside.

Am I bumming you out? I certainly hope so.

Meanwhile, the LudCDites of the world, sitting a head-in-vice-grip away from their flat panels may claim victory for their inferior format (thank you Michael J. Nelson for that visual). Of course, Panasonic is still number one in plasma production, and seemingly making a decent living off it. It's always been my 2nd recommendation. I hope they keep trying as hard as Avis now that Hertz is gone.

Also in the car as it careened off the road were Pioneer's DVD production which will now become something more akin to a rebadged Sharp created by a spin-off company. Old prejudices die hard, so forgive me if I don't get excited at the thought of a Sharp DVD player. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that Pioneer players have always been special. Another end of an era.

Those looking for a bargain, can pick up the 50" non-elite version for under $2K at Amazon. I just wouldn't wait too long. Production may be slated to end sometime in March.

Comments

Submitted by Kelsci on February 8, 2009 - 10:40am.

Pioneer was the leader of the big screen tv age by indroducing in the early 1980s their "pioneering" 40 inch model standard def. projection television that got the big screen television industry going and has come to where it is today. Thank you,Pioneer.

Submitted by Colin Robertson on February 8, 2009 - 5:07pm.

This is incredibly depressing news. Pioneer has consistently been the leader in high-end TV's, for as long as I can remember. I have a pre-kuro Elite that still looks better than most sets today and was always lusting over the Kuro's. Now, it might be time to be seriously irresponsible with my credit card so I can own a piece of TV history, and step it up to 1080p...

Submitted by Steve C. Gallassero on February 9, 2009 - 6:04am.

It's funny that the Kuros is the set everybody wanted yet never bought. I'm sure price had nothing to do with it.

Submitted by James Griffin on February 9, 2009 - 9:15am.

I always groaned when I read a Pioneer review in your magazine because there was always a comment about how way crazy expensive they are. There are also reviews of $1500.00 pretty good panels. Why shouldn't a great TV be more expensive? Is cheap the only thing that matters, especially among hobbyists.

Submitted by El Phillips on February 9, 2009 - 12:14pm.

That satellite dish on the Long Branch needs to be reoriented, it's aiming down too low. Yes, the news about Pioneer is a bummer. I owned the first model from Pioneer in 1986. Currently, I have a 151fd and a 141fd.

Submitted by John Roth on February 9, 2009 - 12:40pm.

I often wonder if Pioneer actually needed to sell their TVs at such a high price to pay for the technology or if they did it to stand out in a crowd. Either way, their Kuro technology will probably be for sale, possibly to Panasonic. This may mean less expensive, high quality TVs. Notice, I said les expensive, not cheap.

Submitted by plasma fan on February 9, 2009 - 11:52pm.

Pioneer makes #1 rated (expensive) HDTV for small market share, KURO is the best ever to this point (?)....but Pio looses tons of money, yearly (numerous reasons why)..... plasma leader Panasonic with their new plasma plant verifies deal to produce KURO glass, to save Pio $$$ (hopefully).....recession comes, worldwide, HDTV not nearly a priority.....sales nearly stop..... Japan, its even worse than USA (?) ........ cuts, consolidate and re structure .......Sharp makes Pio LCD for EU...... KURO to continue (I say) with a new "manufactuer" possibly ?? Pioneer no longer will assemble TV's. (think.....its logical) We'll see in a few days if I'm right or way wrong. ps....google: fuga+kuro+tech

Submitted by david budo on February 10, 2009 - 9:27pm.

i blame the plasma decline on the lack of information updates by sales people. i do av installations, and i can't tell you how many people who buy lcds, have no idea why they bought it other than, "the salesperson told us it was better." why was this advice given? the only reason to get an lcd is either you play a lot of video games or your room is full of windows and you normally watch tv during the day. other than that, lcds suck! none of them have good off axis viewing, 120hz makes film look like video, the picture never has the same life-like image you get from a plasma, and the only way to get decent blacks is to get an led backlit lcd which are pretty expensive. i'm pretty angry with this news. i have a 150fd, and i wouldn't trade it for anything. i still haven't found anything that beats my old 4270hd. if panasonic gets the kuro technology, they better keep the 72hz refresh rate. i hate watching movies in 60hz after living with pioneer plasmas for the past 3 years. m

Submitted by Ron W on February 11, 2009 - 9:44am.

There is no question that plasma sets and especially the Pioneer Kuro models remained the best, however, it would seem at what price? It is quite obvious Pioneer reached the point that, no matter how superior it was to its competition, it just could not sell enough of them at the price point for it to remain a viable product in the market place. I am also afraid that they haven't learned from history and are doing the same thing when it comes to the pricing of their newer "Elite" Blu-Ray players. In my mind another issue, for me anyway, is that one can't justify the significant price/size differential once you got in to sets 60" and above. As much as I would have liked to buy one of these monitors and unlike my present 65" RP CRT, till this day, the "bang for the buck" has never really been there in the larger screen models. They are still, relatively, just too expensive.

Submitted by Elliot on February 14, 2009 - 4:08pm.

You people should see the LCD Proton monitors! They are very difficult to get! Thou not widely available, I ve managed to buy one in December, and it is really, really good in the PIoneer way, where the color fidelity is just amazing from HDMI..In fact from a distance you can hardly distinguish them (Pioneer and Proton)....And I got the 32 inch version, and from what I hear their new 47 inch model is something special!