http://www.localnewsleader.com/olberlin/st...lnews&id=160390
QUOTE
TV Demand Helps Japan Electronics Makers
Staff and agencies
17 March, 2006
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer 17 minutes ago
TOKYO - Just five years ago, Japan‘s electronics makers were in a sorry state. Profits were sinking as less expensive Asian rivals grabbed market share — and prices for everything from computer chips to DVD players dropped. These days, they‘ve found a savior: the flat-panel TV.
The new sets helped Panasonic parent Matsu$hita Electric Industrial Co.‘s profits jump 39 percent in the October-December quarter, while flat-panel sales helped drive Sharp‘s earnings up 26 percent during the same period.
The switch in TV technology is an opportunity that only comes once in several decades, said Fumio Ohtsubo, Matsu$hita‘s incoming president.
"We have been a big success because we chose early on to focus on and invest in plasma display panels," Masaaki Fujita, director of Matsu$hita‘s plasma display panel TV business, said. "People are really moved when they see the quality of the images in our TVs."
Now once again, Japanese electronics companies are proving through flat panel TVs that they can deliver both quality and value — not unlike automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., said Yuichi Ishida, analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities.
The sophisticated technology required for such TVs is one area the Japanese makers, with their longer history in the industry, can hope to beat newcomers, analysts say.
Well-to-do shoppers like Yoshiki Inoue, recently seen strolling through a sprawling store in downtown Tokyo, aren‘t looking for bargains but for quality, even status symbols, and they‘re willing to pay more for brand power.
Inoue, 58, who runs his own construction business, isn‘t dead set against non-Japanese brands such as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea . It‘s just that he hasn‘t seen anything from them so far that he‘s liked, he said.
In the fourth-quarter of last year, Matsu$hita‘s profits jumped to $424 million, largely on the back of booming flat-panel TV sales, as quarterly sales jumped 4 percent to $20.6 billion.
Unlike Sharp and Matsu$hita, Sony was an exception among the Japanese in falling behind in flat-panel TVs, which proved disastrous for its books.
Its fortunes have improved dramatically after it started selling LCDs TVs developed and made under a joint venture with Samsung. Especially telling of Sony‘s brand power is that it is beating Samsung in global share of LCD TVs.
Sony reported a $1.4 billion profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 17.5 percent from the same period a year ago, as its LCD TVs sold briskly during Christmas.
For all manufacturers, there‘s a risk in that prices will drop too quickly — something that‘s good for consumers, but difficult for manufacturers.
But profit margins still tend to be fatter for the newest TVs, and both Matsu$hita and Sharp made sure they were out with products ahead of the rivals before serious price drops set in.
Toshishige Hamano, Sharp‘s executive in charge of international operations, brushed off the threat from cheaper Asian rivals, saying he‘s confident that Sharp can offer the best quality for the price.
"Major players are also bringing down costs, and so they won‘t have much of a price advantage," Hamano said.
The excitement over flat-screen TVs is obvious at a downtown Tokyo branch of retail chain Yodobashi Camera Co.
Even on a weekday morning, customers are everywhere at the bustling store, carefully studying dozens of competing TV models in various sizes from Japan‘s top brands, which also include Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.
Most of the screens are big — and they aren‘t cheap. A 32-inch LCD TV costs about $2,200.
Tomoo Yoneta, manager at the chain, can barely control his excitement.
"It‘s all about TVs now," he said, adding that he expects solid sales to continue for some time.
Staff and agencies
17 March, 2006
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer 17 minutes ago
TOKYO - Just five years ago, Japan‘s electronics makers were in a sorry state. Profits were sinking as less expensive Asian rivals grabbed market share — and prices for everything from computer chips to DVD players dropped. These days, they‘ve found a savior: the flat-panel TV.
The new sets helped Panasonic parent Matsu$hita Electric Industrial Co.‘s profits jump 39 percent in the October-December quarter, while flat-panel sales helped drive Sharp‘s earnings up 26 percent during the same period.
The switch in TV technology is an opportunity that only comes once in several decades, said Fumio Ohtsubo, Matsu$hita‘s incoming president.
"We have been a big success because we chose early on to focus on and invest in plasma display panels," Masaaki Fujita, director of Matsu$hita‘s plasma display panel TV business, said. "People are really moved when they see the quality of the images in our TVs."
Now once again, Japanese electronics companies are proving through flat panel TVs that they can deliver both quality and value — not unlike automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., said Yuichi Ishida, analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities.
The sophisticated technology required for such TVs is one area the Japanese makers, with their longer history in the industry, can hope to beat newcomers, analysts say.
Well-to-do shoppers like Yoshiki Inoue, recently seen strolling through a sprawling store in downtown Tokyo, aren‘t looking for bargains but for quality, even status symbols, and they‘re willing to pay more for brand power.
Inoue, 58, who runs his own construction business, isn‘t dead set against non-Japanese brands such as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea . It‘s just that he hasn‘t seen anything from them so far that he‘s liked, he said.
In the fourth-quarter of last year, Matsu$hita‘s profits jumped to $424 million, largely on the back of booming flat-panel TV sales, as quarterly sales jumped 4 percent to $20.6 billion.
Unlike Sharp and Matsu$hita, Sony was an exception among the Japanese in falling behind in flat-panel TVs, which proved disastrous for its books.
Its fortunes have improved dramatically after it started selling LCDs TVs developed and made under a joint venture with Samsung. Especially telling of Sony‘s brand power is that it is beating Samsung in global share of LCD TVs.
Sony reported a $1.4 billion profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 17.5 percent from the same period a year ago, as its LCD TVs sold briskly during Christmas.
For all manufacturers, there‘s a risk in that prices will drop too quickly — something that‘s good for consumers, but difficult for manufacturers.
But profit margins still tend to be fatter for the newest TVs, and both Matsu$hita and Sharp made sure they were out with products ahead of the rivals before serious price drops set in.
Toshishige Hamano, Sharp‘s executive in charge of international operations, brushed off the threat from cheaper Asian rivals, saying he‘s confident that Sharp can offer the best quality for the price.
"Major players are also bringing down costs, and so they won‘t have much of a price advantage," Hamano said.
The excitement over flat-screen TVs is obvious at a downtown Tokyo branch of retail chain Yodobashi Camera Co.
Even on a weekday morning, customers are everywhere at the bustling store, carefully studying dozens of competing TV models in various sizes from Japan‘s top brands, which also include Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.
Most of the screens are big — and they aren‘t cheap. A 32-inch LCD TV costs about $2,200.
Tomoo Yoneta, manager at the chain, can barely control his excitement.
"It‘s all about TVs now," he said, adding that he expects solid sales to continue for some time.
Good to hear that Sony currently holds the biggest market share of LCDs in terms of units sold since 2005's Q4.
Of course, there are other creases that Sony needs to smooth out *coughWalkmancough* *coughdelayingthePS3cough*, but overall big moves to restructure the company and its products have been rewarding.
