Rachel Hou / Shanghai Daily news

Industry insiders predict that cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions will not be available on the local TV market within five years, yesterday's Shanghai Morning Post reported.
"For the CRT television, its golden age is over. With the popularity of flat panel TVs such as plasma display panel (PDP) TVs and liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs on the rise, CRT TVs will not be available on the Chinese urban TV market within five years," said Zheng Guangqing, vice president of Sichuan Changhong Electric Co.
Meanwhile, Japan's leading TV manufacturers will stop CRT TVs production next year, according to Ling Guosheng, Assistant President of Suning Appliance Chain Store (Group) Co, one of China's largest retailers of home electrical appliances.
In order to attract more consumers, TV producers are drastically lowering prices for flat panel TVs. The price of a 46-inch plasma TV in the local Suning chain stores dropped below 20,000 yuan(US$2,400) yesterday for the first time.
The local sales of flat panel TVs are estimated to hit 60,000 this year.