[SITEiNK (Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2008 3:30AM]

Lame...
this reminds me of when Nissan cut the 300zx citing high development cost and low sales. It had the effect of nearly killing the entire company. The Japanese government had to then bail them out. When they announced plans to bring out the new 350z, Nissan began to see a resurgence in sales. These type of higher-end products are needed to draw excitement and attention to a company and set the bar for excellence.
If Pioneer does pull the plug and announces no replacement technology they will certainly loose any credibility they have built for any future products.
They have been putting a lot of work into their new high end receiver that that is good, but I certainly think they sell a great deal more high-end plasmas than receivers.
Here's for hoping they will stick around.

[rotorhead77 (Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2008 5:23AM]

FYI, GOJ did not bail out Japan! Renault took a 15% stake in Nissan, and the reigns (Carlos Ghosn). In turn, Nissan has since bought a stake in Renault.

Pioneer is the standard in display technology. I am terribly sad to see them go. Grab up the Kuros while you can!!!

[SITEiNK (Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2008 6:43AM]

you mean GOJ did not bail out Nissan right? Not Japan.
right, the renault deal didn't finalize until after the keiretsu bail out money was paid, but Renault was certainly a helpful factor for the company in those times.

Well GOJ actually did help bail out Nissan to the tune of about 730 million dollars in 1998 and they did it for several other companies as well as the Japanese economy was going through a rough time due to the savings and loan crisis.

I've included a document for further reading.
http://www.aftermarket.org/International/Foreign_Market_Reports/APAC99/5%20JAPAN%27SBANKCRISIS.pdf

regardless, let's hope that this apparent lapse on the part of Pioneer does not lead them to ruin, but rather causes them to be even more resourceful and well, pioneer-ing.