lcd television

It's hard to complain too much about how Japan "stole" the high-tech electronics business from the U.S. More accurately, they took a low-margin business off our hands. And you know what we should be saying to that? Good riddance!

No segment of the electronics industry better highlights the challenges of these times than the television business. With sales of standard TVs flagging, the industry is pinning its hopes to new models TVs equipped to handle Internet streaming, WiFi and more.

If you're in the market for a new television, you'd be wise to scoop up one of the sweet deals that will be available for the rest of 2011. TV manufacturers and retailers are desperate to unload inventory, so HDTVs, Internet-connected TVs and 3-D TVs will be going at deeply discounted prices.

Once upon a time, Japanese heavyweights Sony and Panasonic were the cream of the crop when it came to TV manufacturers. Nowadays, the leaders of the pack are Korean conglomerates Samsung and LG Display. With the old leaders losing money in the business, should they even keep trying to compete?

After 11 incidents of Bravia flat-panel TVs melting or catching fire, the televisions are being called back to the shop by Sony. The third-largest TV maker announced that it was recalling 1.6 million of the LCD televisions made since 2007.

A television set that is 37 percent thinner, uses 46 percent less energy -- and is made without the highly toxic heavy metal mercury? That sounds like too much eco-goodness rolled into one PR-friendly package. But this is precisely what consumer electronics giant Samsung is boasting in its new...