Panasonic and Toshiba to close their joint venture Malaysia CRT plant

Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display Co. Ltd. will close a plant in Malaysia that manufactures CRTs (cathode ray tubes) for television sets, the company said recently.

Operations at MT Picture Display will end in August. The company, which produces CRTs between 21-inch and 32-inch in diagonal width for the Japanese and North American markets, recorded staggering losses last year that almost equalled its sales. In the most recent financial year, which ended in March 2006, the company lost 969 million Malaysian ringgit (US$264 million) on sales of 973 million Malaysian ringgit.