The Sharp Corporation announced that they expect LCD TV prices to drop 25 percent this year as competition heats up. LCD TVs are holding a 5:1 sales ratio over Plasma and may squeeze them out in time, according to Bloomberg News on Friday.

"The price of LCD TVs in the 40-inch category, currently about US$2,600 to US$2,700, will fall to less than $2,000 by the end of this year," Toshihiko Hirobe, deputy general manager of Osaka-based Sharp’s large-sized LCD TV business, said on Friday.

Sharp’s first quarter profits were up 1.4% and rivals Samsung and LG. Phillips also reported higher earnings. Meanwhile, Lehman Brothers Holdings predicted that LCD TVs would outsell Plasma by five to one in 2007. "In Japan, the competition is almost over, with the LCD industry the winner," Mr. Hirobe said

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (Panasonic in the U.S.) is the largest maker of Plasma TVs in the world. Matsushita’s Chairman Kunio Nakamura said he wasn’t worried about declining prices for flat-screen televisions.

LCD TV shipments in 2007 are expected to reach 74 million [world wide] while Plasma TVs should be about 13 million, Lehman Brothers predicted.

Both LCD and Plasma have made excellent technical improvements in the last few years. However, customers are opting for LCD in a big way. Even without the prospect of Plasma as a compettor in the far future, the competition by the big LCD manufactures should keep prices declining nicely.