Panasonic is to exit the plasma TV panel business by end March 2014 Reuters and the Wall Street Journal report, marking a "key milestone" in the story of the former giant known as the Japanese CE industry.

TV is described as a "major contributor" to the $15 billion losses Panasonic has suffered over the past 2 years, with operating losses for the last financial year reaching $913 million.

According to the WSJ Panasonic is in talks to sell off one of its W. Japan plasma factories while Reuters reports employees will be deployed in other parts of the company.

Such a move follows the Panasonic strategy demanding the closure of divisions failing to meet a 5% operating margin goal within 3 years and the sale of non-core assets. The final aim? Turnaround from low-margin CE maker to vendor of higher-end offerings for the auto and enterprise markets.

In reaction the company states it considers "various options" for the plasma business but "nothing [has] been decided yet."

This is not the first time stories emerged on the closure of Panasonic's plasma business-- last March saw Nikkei reporting the company will stop plasma production by end fiscal 2014. The company later denied the news at the Smart Viera ZT series launch.

Go Panasonic to Exit Plasma TV Panel Business by end-March 2014 (Reuters)

Go Panasonic to Stop Making Plasma Displays for TVs (WSJ MarketWatch)