Panasonic said Thursday it will cut 17,000 jobs worldwide over the next 2 years, according to a report.

Japan's largest maker of home appliances said in a news conference in its home nation that the workforce reductions were the result of restructuring costs as well as mounting losses and damage resulting from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disasters, plus the resulting nuclear plant crisis, according to the Associated Press.

The moves should benefit the Osaka-based firm in the long run, however, by streamlining operations and boosting profitability, company President Fumio Ohtsubo told reporters, the AP report said.

The cuts won't be the first to Panasonic's employee base. Over the last year, the consumer electronics giant has cut about 18,000 jobs, the report said.

Panasonic reported a $499 million loss for the three months ended March 31. The loss was blamed, in large part, to the company spending $748 million in its ongoing restructuring plans, the AP said.

The company said it could not project its earnings for its next fiscal year, which began April 1, because is not yet able to quantify the full extent of the damage its factories and suppliers have suffered from Japan's disasters, the AP said.

Panasonic did say that, for the fiscal year ended March 31, about $258 million was slashed from its operating profit because of the disasters, according to the AP report.

ALSO:

Plasma-TV shipments had a comeback in 2010

Nokia to cut 7,000 jobs, stop developing Symbian operating system

Japan quake affects Sony's, Toshiba's supply of cellphone camera sensors

--Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Photo: A woman looks at a Panasonic TV set at an electronics shop in Tokyo in this Oct. 30, 2009, file photo. Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Most of the major television manufacturers have given up on plasma-TV technology. But the public hasn't.

According to a report from the research firm DisplaySearch, shipments of plasma sets were up 9% in the fourth quarter of 2010. That's especially surprising because plasma-TV shipments were down in 2009, causing many TV makers to stop making plasma sets.

Last year, shipments of plasma TVs jumped from 14.8 million to 19.1 million, an increase of nearly 30%. The reason? Price.

Plasma sets are "the most affordable large flat-panel TVs for many consumers," DisplaySearch said.

The few plasma-TV makers left saw a spike in plasma business, with plasma-panel shipments up 37% for Samsung year over year, LG jumping 30% and Panasonic up 22%.

The plasma-panel comeback also was fueled by a slowdown in the decline of prices for the more popular LCD TV sets, which were kept from falling much by the increased offering of LED-backlit LCD TVs.

Also, the aggressive TV-industry push for 3-D helped, DisplaySearch said, noting that many reviewers and consumers found that plasma TV had better 3-D performance than LCD TV in terms of on-screen flicker.

"With 3-D functionality, plasma can reposition itself as a lasting technology in the TV industry," said Ken Park, DisplaySearch senior analyst for Korean TV market research. "In fact, plasma-TV brands are entering 2011 with 3-D across their product portfolios, from 42-inch HD to 152-inch."

Large screens are where plasma panels are seeing the bulk of their success, the firm said.

The share of plasma-TV shipments at 50 inches or larger hit 40.8% in 2010, up from 38% in 2009. Most plasma-TV makers have abandoned the 32-inch market due to low LCD prices, DisplaySearch said.

RELATED:

Is 3-D TV hot or not?

Escaping the walled garden of connected TV

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

Photo: Panasonic spokeswoman Michelle Roberts gives a presentation of Panasonic's 3-D technology in front of a wall of plasma TVs at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Credit: Laura Rauch / EPA

Tesla Motors Inc. shares are doing well Thursday after Panasonic Corp., which makes rechargeable batteries among its many products, bought a $30-million stake in the electric car company.

Panasonic, based in Osaka, Japan, paid $21.15 a share Wednesday in a private placement, Palo Alto-based Tesla said in a statement. Panasonic now holds about a 2% stake in the company. In afternoon trading in New York, Tesla shares jumped 13%, or $2.83, to $24.60.

Last week, Tesla opened the doors to its Fremont, Calif., factory, where it will build its $57,400 Model S sedan and future vehicles. The auto assembly facility had closed its doors in April, right before Tesla bought it in May.

The start-up also makes the $109,000 electric Roadster. The company has a partnership to develop next-generation lithium ion batteries with Panasonic and currently uses Panasonic technology for advanced battery packs in the Roadster.

The Japanese electronics giant joins investors including Daimler and Toyota, which fed $50 million into Tesla earlier this year. The start-up's much-anticipated initial public offering in June pushed its stock up 40% in the first day.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: Tesla Model S electric car in 2009. Credit: Bob Chamberlin /Los Angeles Times

A worker makes adjustments to the Panasonic booth at the Consumer Electronics Show, where DirecTV and Panasonic announced a partnership to offer all-3D satellite channels. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

The three channels will be made available to DirecTV’s HDTV subscribers, bringing movies, TV shows and live events to homes in 3-D.

A Panasonic executive said pricing has not been set. But at least one of the channels would be made available to the subscribers at no additional cost. The two companies have formed a strategic partnership to create the channels.

One of the major barriers for 3-D TV has been a lack of content. In December, a standard was announced for 3-D Blu-ray machines to make it practical for movies to be issued in the format.

But this is the first announcement by a U.S. content provider that it would bring a steady supply of 3-D to its customers. One of the first live sports events to be shown on the 3-D channel will be the Major League Baseball All-star game this summer, according to a DirecTV official.

To view 3-D programming at home, viewers will need specially equipped television sets. Panasonic, which has been at the forefront of bringing 3-D to living rooms, will be offering 3-D enabled sets and Blu-ray players.

Of course, 3-D glasses will be needed to view the channels.

-- David Colker

Upcoming Panasonic TVs will be able to make online video calls. Credit: Panasonic/Skype.

Consumer electronics giant Panasonic said today that the Skype online phone and video service will be available on a line of its Internet-enabled, high-definition televisions that will be available in the spring. The system will use a Panasonic camera/microphone device (sold separately) that will plug directly into the TV.

The announcement by the companies said the microphone will be able to pick up sound from "couch distance." The image of the person on the other end of the line, if video is used, will appear on the TV screen in resolution quality up to 720p. That's not the highest HDTV quality -- which is 1080p -- but better than what is produced by regular DVDs. However, getting the best image quality on the calls will very much depend on the quality of the Internet connection.

Skype video calls are nothing new -- the service launched for computers in 2006. But Skype Chief Executive Josh Silverman said it was important to bring it to home televisions. "TVs will no longer be just the center of people’s entertainment experience," Silverman said, "but have the potential to be the center of people’s communications experience."

No prices were given for the upcoming TV sets. A Skype spokeswoman said the price of the camera/microphone devices to be offered will cost between $100 and $200.

Calls between Skype-enabled TVs -- or from one of the TVs to a Skype-equipped computer or mobile device -- will be free. Calls between one of the TVs and non-Skype phones will have a cost.

The announcement was made in Las Vegas, where the electronics world is gathering for the Consumer Electronics Show that opens formally Thursday. But Wednesday, the big guns in TV -- including Panasonic -- are scheduled to introduce their products for the new year.

-- David Colker