Soshibatachi?  Well, no, not quite.  but TV manufacturers, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi will will merge their liquid-crystal display operations using $2.6 billion of government-backed funds to fend off growing competition from rivals in South Korea and Taiwan.

Before the merger, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi were all losing money during production of small electronic panels , so this merger will allow them to band together and focus on production.