Panasonic Corp looks to sell one million units or more of its 3D TVs in the first year of their launch, its US chief said, hoping the emerging technology will catch on with consumers in 2010.Panasonic, which plans to start shipping 3D TVs in March, has learned from its on-again, off-again approach to developing a market for high-definition TVs in the late 1980s, and will be "very reasonable" about prices this time, Yoshi Yamada, CEO of the firm''s North America unit, said on Friday.But the Japanese company will have to contend with a flurry of rival products. TV makers from Sony Corp to LG Electronics Inc and Samsung Electronics Co have put their 3D screens at the forefront of the Consumer Electronics Show, which runs through Sunday.DisplaySearch expects 9 million 3D TVs to be sold globally in 2012, still a sliver of the current worldwide TV market of about 200 million sets."The more the better," Yamada told Reuters in an interview. "We will be very aggressive. Speed is everything."We want people to think, 'Panasonic, 3D; 3D, Panasonic.'"Panasonic is teaming with US satellite TV provider DirecTV Group to launch three high-definition 3D channels by June.It plans to seek similar partnerships with cable networks or other distributors in the future, he said.Manufacturers are teaming up with content makers and distributors to combat the current dearth of content, Yamada said.Movie makers are eager to jump on the 3D bandwagon to seek a premium in ticket prices, while broadcasters are hurrying to gain the 3D edge against the competition, he said.Panasonic, the world's biggest maker of plasma TVs, has seen plasma beaten out by liquid crystal display technology in the flatscreen TV market, and it hopes an added dimension will help it reverse chronic price falls.The company aims to boost group sales by more than a third over the next three years as it integrates Sanyo Electric Co Ltd after buying a majority stake in the world's No.1 rechargeable battery maker.Sanyo's solar cells and rechargeable batteries, along with Panasonic making fuel cells, will help Panasonic win more deals in the United States in the energy-related sector, Yamada said, as it gears up to supply batteries for electric cars.Panasonic's US sales have the potential to grow as much as 30% of Panasonic's group sales, he said, more than double its current 13% to 14%.US sales have begun to recover, rising year-on-year in October-December, thanks to solid demand for bigger flat TVs, Yamada said."It's getting better, but the economy (was) not full-strength. We now see the light."Shares of Panasonic were up 1.9%, outperforming a 1.1% rise in the benchmark Nikkei average.

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