UPDATE 1-Sony becomes latest to quit rear-projection TVs

(Updates with details, background)

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday it would stop making rear-projection televisions, becoming the latest company to distance itself from a technology once seen as a promising rival of LCD and plasma displays in the flat-TV market.

Sony said it would focus its resources on liquid crystal display (LCD) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology to address the flat-TV market, which is growing rapidly as consumers trade in their boxy tube sets for sleeker flat screens.

The consumer electronics firm plans to stop making rear-projection TVs at three plants in Japan and overseas in February, company spokesman Shinji Obana said.

Seiko Epson Corp (6724.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said earlier this month that it had halted production and sales of its rear-projection TVs, while Hitachi Ltd (6501.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) withdrew from the North American rear-projection TV market earlier this year.

Demand for rear-projection TVs, which were once dominant in the large-sized flat-TV market, has been dwindling as electronics makers in recent years started offering larger and cheaper LCD and plasma models.

In October, Sony cut its rear-projection TV sales target for the year to March by 43 percent to 400,000 units. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Nathan Layne; Editing by Mike Miller)