Planar dives head first into high-end home theater market by acquiring Runco

Joining the growing array of recent acquisitions is Planar and Runco International, as just today Planar has written a check for $36.7 million to take on the assets of privately-held Runco International, Inc. Planar, while not a household name in the home theater biz, managed to hold its own amongst competitors in the HT market, and while the majority of its products catered to the mid-range consumer, we suspect that picking up Runco was the easiest way to launch into the high-end realm. As expected, it looks like the Planar, Runco, and Vidikron brand names will remain as they are, and just as Planar will continue to sell through its current network of distributors, it sure sounds like Runco will remain a niche offering rather than bleeding over towards the mainstream.

[Ray @ May 23rd 2007 5:49PM]

RUNCO wins the award for offering the most unjustifiably overpriced products available. There is nothing special about RUNCO's displays or projectors and others offer better products for much less money. It is not a situation where you pay more and get more. This is not a value issue. It is a situation where people never heard of the company before, the company says, "we are high-end," and charge a huge premium without justification. It is not a question of affordability as much as it is "Do I want to throw money away unnecessarily and not gain any benefit in doing so?"

[Evan @ May 25th 2007 2:12AM]

2.35:1. Runco was the first with it, and still the only one to sell it as an integrated solution. Now they offer it on there whole line. Would I say they offer a great value, not exactly. Would I first look at Sony, Digital Projection, or even one of the new Pansonic or JVC projectors, yea I would. But if you want to build a top end theater with everything 2.35 to 1 native would be on my list.

For those that think this is a waste, it is the only way to not waste a ton of resolution from that 1080p spec chip you just had to have when watching cinemascope movies. IE anything action, big budget.

[adebar @ May 23rd 2007 6:08PM]

sam runco will be swimming in benjamins tonight

[Matt @ May 23rd 2007 6:10PM]

So what you're saying is that the former owner of RUNCO has sold his company for an amount that leaves us wondering if even he can afford a RUNCO projector.

[Churma @ May 24th 2007 12:17AM]

LOL, All Sam did was mod existing chassis with better technology. I remember when he was using old Zeneth units. I wonder if they will close there Hayward, CA office. Too bad so sad. I would never buy a Runco, I just use to sell them to suckers. Just my thoughts... Hah Good Job Sam!!!

[Clayj @ May 24th 2007 9:22PM]

While I agree that Runco products may NOW be more expensive than they need to be, my Runco PL-50c 50" plasma TV has been running like a champ since December 2000, and the picture quality still matches almost every other plasma TV I've seen. I've been very happy with it.

Now, would I spend $22K again? Probably not. But it was cool being the first person in Charlotte with a plasma TV. :-)