Japan's Panasonic Sony Sharp's full-line loss brewing industry restructuring

Panasonic, Sony, and Sharp Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. disclosed their financial results for the fiscal year 2011 in early February. The net after-tax loss will be as high as 1.29 trillion yen (1 yuan or 12 yen), and the fiscal situation will show signs of rout. Panasonic is the largest loss-making value in the history of Japanese manufacturing. It is worth 780 billion yen. On February 15, Fitch downgraded the ratings of the three companies. Fitch Senior Director Matt Jamison said that the Japanese electrical industry has reached a turning point in its survival.

As an important driving force for the rapid development of the post-war Japanese economy, the electrical appliance industry has created a good reputation for “Made in Japan” in the world market. Now, what is the way out for the Japanese electrical appliance industry facing huge losses? Many experts believe that there are too many electronics manufacturers in Japan and that they need to promote restructuring and reform and create powerful leadership. In February of this year, Panasonic, Fujitsu, and Renesas Electronics have begun negotiations on the merger of semiconductor system LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) business, hoping to expand the scale and enhance competitiveness. In November last year, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi have also reached a consensus on the cooperation of small and medium-sized liquid crystal displays.

However, poor performance and huge losses can be solved without simple restructuring. The deficits of companies such as Sony are mainly found in areas such as ultra-thin TVs and portable terminals, and it is difficult for Japanese companies to rely on their scale advantages to reproduce their splendor. Some media have pointed out that there is only one way out for Japanese electronics companies—reorienting the company and restructuring the business. For example, U.S. International Business Machines Corporation has positioned the company as a provider of "information technology (IT) services" from a large computer company; Japan's Fujifilm has changed from producing film to producing optical materials; Japan's Hitachi Ltd. The transformation of facilities companies, these companies have avoided the recession and achieved rebirth.

According to Nishiku Tofu, editorial board member of Japan Economic News, repositioning the company will inevitably be accompanied by the pain and risk of business restructuring and may not be successful. Right now, the Japanese electrical appliance industry has been forced to a critical juncture. At this time, there is no other way than to start restructuring and meet the challenges. In the face of difficulties, Panasonic has been committed to launching a new generation of environmentally friendly “smart communities” that use energy efficiently; Sony has focused on strengthening its medical business, and is working hard to struggle with the financial fraud scandal of Olympus. Si (microblogging) cooperation; Sharp is committed to the development of small and medium-sized LCD display for smart phones.

In the face of the current predicament of Japanese electrical companies, the media here believes that even though Japanese electrical companies had poor performance after the collapse of the IT bubble, they still firmly grasped the initiative in terms of market share and technological level, resulting in this situation. The reason is the lack of technological innovation. Merrill Lynch Japan Securities analyst Yasuhiro Yamada also expressed concern about the ability of Japanese electronics companies to develop their products, saying that "the most needed product is the development of products with high added value."

Hisense Electric Company spokesperson said in an interview with this reporter that from an external point of view, the international financial crisis, the Great East Japan Earthquake and the appreciation of the yen caused the production costs of the Japanese electrical industry to rise; from the internal point of view, the electrical industry is a new one, In the rapidly upgrading industry, several Japanese electrical appliance companies that have enjoyed worldwide reputation for many years lacked competitive pressure to lead in time to catch up with new trends in the world's electrical industry. They were also insensitive to the market and paid no attention to the interests of consumers. point. Among them, the lag in innovation consciousness and the speed of innovation is the most important reason that led to the crisis of Japanese electrical companies.

Taking the TV as an example, in the era of the picture tube, the television produced by Sony had a good reputation and influence in the world. An important factor for its success is to have unique technologies in the leading market. For example, Sony originally created “Superfine”. The line-to-line telecine technology improves the accuracy of focusing and the resolution of images, making the rendered picture more detailed and realistic. Since 2000, flat-panel TVs have rapidly emerged and quickly replaced CRT TVs. South Korea’s Samsung Group has tapped the world’s leading talents who have mastered tablet technology, established technological advantages, and stole the limelight and market share of Japanese electronics companies. rate. A survey of global flat-panel TV market share rankings from January to September 2011 shows that South Korea's Samsung Group and LG Group occupy the top two, respectively 22.8% and 13.9%, while Japan’s Sony and Panasonic are ranked third. Four, only 11.0% and 8.2%.

In the increasingly fierce competition in the global electronics industry, when once brilliant Japanese companies, rookie Apple Inc., South Korea’s Samsung, and companies from China competed in the world market, how did Chinese companies win in the competition? In response, a spokesman for Hisense Electric told reporters that Chinese companies not only focus on products, but also pay more attention to the major opportunities for transformation and upgrading of the consumer electronics industry. From the era of the CRT to the era of the tablet, from the digital era to the intelligent era, Chinese companies have grasped the opportunity of strategic transformation and have taken a two-pronged approach in technological innovation and the internal system of the enterprise.

For example, Hisense TV started with the development of technology in the electronics industry. During the transformation of CRT TVs to flat-panel TVs in 2004, it achieved the highest sales volume in the domestic market for flat-panel TVs; when LED TVs gradually replaced LCD TVs in 2009, it was held in Miyazaki, Japan. At the meeting of the Electrotechnical Commission IEC/TC110 (Flat Panel Display Technology Committee), Hisense took the lead in drafting a new proposal document for LED backlight sub-regulations. This is the first time Chinese experts took the lead in drafting the field of flat-panel displays to draft general specifications and key specification standards. This is of great significance.

>> Comment Liu Buchen (the chief advisor of Kuafu Enterprise Management Consulting Organization): In 2011, the “four major sectors” of the global electrical appliance industry (China, Japan, Korea, and Europe), Japan’s underperforming, was only a Panasonic company. Loss of 780 billion yen. In the past 10 years, the electrical sector in China and South Korea has risen rapidly, and Japan has been sluggish for a long time. The reason for this is that the Japanese companies' own mechanism can hardly be relied on.

A typical statement is that if a business crisis occurs, Chinese companies respond after two hours. Japanese companies need 10 days to study countermeasures. Take China as an example, Japanese companies have become more and more difficult to adapt to the rapidly changing Chinese market, and their increasingly serious “big corporate disease” has become a serious constraint on the development of enterprises. Therefore, it is irresponsible to attribute the decline of the Japanese electrical industry solely to external factors such as the major earthquakes, the debt crisis in Europe and the United States, and floods in Thailand.

In addition, with the rise of the electronics industry in China and South Korea, Japanese companies believe that instead of struggling to support them, it is better to find new ways to formulate new development strategies and move to new industries. As a result, Panasonic made the new energy industry the focus of future development; Hitachi chose construction machinery and power generation equipment as the main direction; and Sony decided to withdraw from LCD TV manufacturing and subcontracted it to Chinese companies, focusing on developing OLED TVs. Tablet era television products.

The overall decline of the Japanese electrical industry has provided opportunities for the development of Chinese companies. In the future, more Japanese electrical appliances will be labelled “Made in China”. It is precisely this good opportunity to see the transformation of Japan's electrical industry, Haier acquired Sanyo Electric business, and set up an Asian headquarters in Japan, vigorously develop the Japanese domestic market.