Beginning with the new 2006 models, Toshiba has officially decided to stop producing and assembling plasma TVs. Due to decreasing costs of plasma TVs every year, Toshiba quietly has decided to outsource production on all plasma TVs to save on labor cost. The new Toshiba 42HP66, 50HP16, and 50HP66 models will be manufactured and assembled by Orion Electric Co. Ltd. in Thailand. If you have never heard of Orion before, this is an OEM company that currently manufactures TV and video products under the low-cost Broksonic, Durabrand, some Insignia, Memorex, Orion, and Sansui brands. They can be found in discount retailers. Orion also manufactures the entire Toshiba CRT tube TV lineup.
The plasma screen panels will continue to be made by Panasonic and Panasonic will deliver screen displays to Orion. Because Orion is responsible for making the electronic components (PCB and power supply) for Toshiba, picture quality may be affected. I strongly recommend that you see a display of it in stores before you purchase one.
Although Orion does not have the best record for producing high-quality, reliable products, we do hope and wish that the new Toshiba plasma TV models will match or exceed the quality from the last year 95 models. Toshiba has worked very closely with Orion for the past five years to provide consumers with stunning, exciting products but at a lower cost in building them.