Japan's Pioneer says to pull out of flat TV market

TOKYO Feb 12 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp (6773.T) said it would exit the flat TV business and consider moving its optical disk operations into a joint venture as part of a package of restructuring steps.

Pioneer had said on Saturday it was weighing various options regarding its loss-making flat TV business including all-out withdrawal and termination of in-house TV production.

Pioneer held a 5.9 percent share in the plasma TV market in the first nine months of 2008, a long way behind Panasonic Corp's (6752.T) 37.2 percent, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) 22.8 percent and LG Electronics Inc's (066570.KS) 15.5 percent, according to research firm DisplaySearch. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka)