Side note, i was at a buddies house watching his new LG 55" plasma tonight....I wanted to just go home and watch my 4 year old Sony 37" plasma. Not even a contest.
Sony never made a Plasma (of their own...they don't own a plasma manufacturing plant). They sold a remake of NEC, I believe. That is why today, they do not sell a plasma (that I know of.)
The plants I know of:
Matsushita
Lucky-Goldstar
NEC
Pioneer
Fujitsu
Samsung
A bunch of Chinese companies
And with LCD's
Matsushita
Philips
Sony
Samsung
Sharp
NEC
Fujistu
Lucky-Goldstar
and a bunch of Chinese Companies
Most companies choose a build house to simply make them a product, and they brand it as their own. Happens in car audio all the time, as well as many other products available to consumers.
The problem with TV's is that a lot of them rely on
markeneering, not engineering or proper quality design. A lot of these Walmart brands are at fault of doing this, unfortunately.
If I had to buy a plasma today, it would be a Pioneer, or Matsushita (Panasonic)
If I had to buy an LCD today, it would be Samsung, Mitsubishi, or Sony