Friday May 25, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Panasonic forecasts worst-ever net loss of Y780 bil yen

Business Feb. 03, 2012 - 04:35PM JST ( 24 )

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Panasonic booth at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show

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24 Comments

3

The_TrueFeb. 03, 2012 - 05:33PM JST

Blame everyone and everything but they short sight and want to keep milking the old days.
4

some14someFeb. 03, 2012 - 06:36PM JST

Panic situation for all Japanese giant elec makers :(
3

sunhawkFeb. 03, 2012 - 07:35PM JST

think it is bad now? just wait till Chinese electronics reach japanese quality and price point and flood the western markets.
1

tmarieFeb. 03, 2012 - 07:39PM JST

True, that is exactly what I was thinking! Blame everyone and everything but them! Never mind that the quality has gone down, the prices have gone up and they do nothing new or innovative.

Oh well, Japanese people will keep on buying them while I look for the cheaper and better Korean goods.
-7

oginomeFeb. 03, 2012 - 07:44PM JST

Oh well, Japanese people will keep on buying them while I look for the cheaper and better Korean goods

Cheaper, yes, but better quality, no.
3

wtfjapanFeb. 03, 2012 - 08:39PM JST

oginome what you dont get is that gaijin want to buy good electronic products at affordable prices, LG Samsung make good TVs at half the price of Japanese ones, you can have the best quality products in the world but if people arnt buying them then whats the point. this is one of the main reasons why Panasonic Sharp Sony are all making pathetic profits because they are way overpriced, & the Koreans are making record sales profits & exports.
0

The_TrueFeb. 03, 2012 - 08:41PM JST

OPS!!... i mean to said (Blame everyone and everything, but not they short sight and they narrow vision, and want to milk the old days of "we japanese do it like this and is best!"

Mod please a edit button!!
-4

oginomeFeb. 03, 2012 - 08:55PM JST

oginome what you dont get is that gaijin want to buy good electronic products at affordable prices, LG Samsung make good TVs at half the price of Japanese ones, you can have the best quality products in the world but if people arnt buying them then whats the point. this is one of the main reasons why Panasonic Sharp Sony are all making pathetic profits because they are way overpriced, & the Koreans are making record sales profits & exports.

Um, I'm fully aware people are buying Korean products. Yes, they're cheaper, bu certainly not higher quality like tmarie thinks. And I'm not anti-Korean, I have a Samsung lap top :)
2

herefornowFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:27PM JST

Um, I'm fully aware people are buying Korean products. Yes, they're cheaper, bu certainly not higher quality

oginome -- sorry, but wtfjapan is correct, you don't get it. "Quality" is a relative term when it comes to people actually purchasing a product. And the price/quality ratio is critically important, especially here in the states. Respectfully, in TV's and cars, Korean products are viewed to have excellent quality relative to price, and virtually all of the pre-Super Bowl ads from folks like Best Buy, Walmart, etc. are featuring Korean TV's. Japan, IMO, has lost the relative quality game, and, with the yen in its current position, and the very high fixed costs of doing business in Japan, like bloated payrolls, corporate taxes, etc., it is unlikely they will get that advantage back. Especially with China's quality improving. So you can believe Japan's absolute quality is better, and it may just be, but it is not superior enough to offset the higher prices. Not when even "cheap" TV's last ten years or more.
-1

JapanGalFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:39PM JST

It is not about sales and quality. It is about disasters and supply flow breaking down, and large acquisitions such as Sanyo, are write offs.

And besides, Sanyo was a Korean company. Now owned by Panasonic, so please buy Sanyo. :-)
1

JapanGalFeb. 03, 2012 - 09:40PM JST

was due to one-off costs it incurred to acquire rival Sanyo, among other factors.

Read the article please.
0

lostrune2Feb. 03, 2012 - 09:41PM JST

The term often used is "best buy" - what Consumer Reports qualify as the best balance between quality and price, a.k.a. the most bang for your buck.
0

sunhawkFeb. 03, 2012 - 10:29PM JST

my samsung tv is one of the LED models and it looks just as good as the significantly more expensive sony bravia ones
1

JapanGalFeb. 03, 2012 - 10:33PM JST

http://asia.cnet.com/crave/sanyo%20electric%20co./

This was a brilliant buy. Look at what Panasonic gained in laying out all this cash. Puts them straight away into the Korean market.
-5

oginomeFeb. 04, 2012 - 12:17AM JST

oginome -- sorry, but wtfjapan is correct, you don't get it. "Quality" is a relative term when it comes to people actually purchasing a product. And the price/quality ratio is critically important, especially here in the states. Respectfully, in TV's and cars, Korean products are viewed to have excellent quality relative to price, and virtually all of the pre-Super Bowl ads from folks like Best Buy, Walmart, etc. are featuring Korean TV's. Japan, IMO, has lost the relative quality game, and, with the yen in its current position, and the very high fixed costs of doing business in Japan, like bloated payrolls, corporate taxes, etc., it is unlikely they will get that advantage back. Especially with China's quality improving. So you can believe Japan's absolute quality is better, and it may just be, but it is not superior enough to offset the higher prices. Not when even "cheap" TV's last ten years or more.

You're the one who doesn't get it. Read my post again. Korean products = worse quality, cheaper price. That's all I was saying.
0

Ah_soFeb. 04, 2012 - 01:30AM JST

I used to work for Panasonic. It was old fashioned then and in decline years ago. It has continued to lose ground since then and will carry on its decline unless it turns around its business model.
2

Battlecam SlayerzFeb. 04, 2012 - 02:27AM JST

JapanGal

It is not about sales and quality. It is about disasters and supply flow breaking down, and large acquisitions such >as Sanyo, are write offs.

And besides, Sanyo was a Korean company. Now owned by Panasonic, so please buy Sanyo. :-)

LOL. Sanyo was never a Korean company. It's Japanese and was founded by the brother in law of the man who founded Panasonic!
2

oberstFeb. 04, 2012 - 04:31AM JST

basked in PAST glory, not forward looking, not innovative enough, everything that's not Apple...........................there lies J electronic company's problem.
0

kiboushaFeb. 04, 2012 - 07:19AM JST

oberst,

exactly my thoughts. This is not only happening to electronic companies, it's happening all over industry that Japan was good once. The game industry is another example.
0

tmarieFeb. 04, 2012 - 11:39AM JST

**Korean products = worse quality, cheaper price. **

Cheaper indeed, worse? Ha! Keep thinking your Japanese products are the best my friend. Someone will have to for these companies to survive.
-2

oginomeFeb. 04, 2012 - 12:49PM JST

Cheaper indeed, worse? Ha! Keep thinking your Japanese products are the best my friend. Someone will have to for these companies to survive.

They're better quality than Korean products, my 'friend', even though you desperately wish it wasn't so. And all Korean products you buy are still reliant on Japanese high tech for their most sophisticated components.. oops. You still can't escape Japan.
2

JapanGalFeb. 05, 2012 - 05:46PM JST

Yes Matsushita Denki. I made a mistake before. Sorrry.
0

1standgoalFeb. 07, 2012 - 06:02AM JST

Lost in all this doom and gloom is the fact that Panasonic actually made an operating profit of 30 billion Yen despite the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing Tsunami, the most severe flooding in the history of Thailand, and a Godzilla sized Yen – pretty remarkable stuff.

This is a textbook example of the importance of reading critically. The media love this stuff because 10 billion dollars is a huge number guaranteed to attract eyeballs and hence ad revenue. But read closely, it was almost exclusively the result of write-downs related to the Sanyo acquisition –in other words, accounting adjustments with no impact on cash flows. Panasonic was actually cash flow positive last FY despite all the natural disasters!
0

napoleancomplexFeb. 08, 2012 - 06:29AM JST

oh here we ago again... korean tv's are reliant on japanese parts... Zzzzzzzz...

@1standgoal: I'd be concerned as a shareholder (which I am not) that a projected operating profit of 130 billion was actually 30.. and they are still revising downwards. They better hope the yen reverses its trend but its been gaining in strength (relative to the USD) since July 2007