In a Monday report, the Nikkei newspaper has revealed that Japan-based consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic Corp's plans to downsize of its television business in the coming three-year period, beginning with the next fiscal year, may apparently include the company's withdrawal from the plasma TV arena.

A record €1.47 billion fine has been imposed by the European Commission (EC) on seven global manufacturers of cathode ray tubes (CRT), for their allegedly anti-competitive activities during the one decade period from between 1996 to 2006.

In what probably is the biggest ever cartel penalty, the European Union (EU)'s antitrust Commissioner Joaquin Almunia slapped a Euro 1.47 billion ($1.96 billion) fine on seven TV- and monitor-manufacturing companies which, for years, had been conniving to fix the prices of television and computer monitor tubes worldwide.