"...Samsung sold LCD TVs, DVD players, MP3 music players and other items in Japan via the Internet, but stopped at the end of October. It had ceased sales in retail outlets in August last year...Samsung will sell flat screen computer monitors directly to businesses and will continue to sell components such as memory and LCDs. The company will also keep supplying mobile phone handsets to Softbank..."

Matsushita confirmed that Japan's Fair Trade Commission on Thursday started an inspection of it's unit, MT Picture Display, which makes cathode ray tubes.