Top consumer electronic makers in Japan including Sony, Panasonic and Sharp are seeing their stock plummet and their staff cut after missing some key opportunities to innovate and stay relevant. Now, Apple and Samsung are fighting over market share as these top-name companies are fighting for survival.
“Japanese companies were busy defending old business models that the world simply bypassed,” says Michael Gartenberg, industry analyst for Gartner. Although these companies still offer high quality products, consumers are moving towards paying less for good-enough quality.
“In the past there was a huge gap between the best of breed and second best,” Gartenberg says. “Now, maybe there’s still a small gap between a Sony high-definition screen and an LG screen, but most consumers can’t see it. And if most consumers can’t see it, it’s not there.”
These companies also completely missed the smartphone revolution. And even though Sony was quick to adopt e-book technology, it couldn’t create a software or library service and was quickly surpassed. “It’s been years since they’ve turned out products that people feel they need to have,” writes The Washington Post.
Once known for their TVs, the companies have started cutting back this now profit-losing sector. They’ve also made significant salary and workforce cuts. Some have looked to other sources of revenue such as developing solar panels or even medical devices.
“And Sharp is taking it a step further, laying out a plan in its 2012 annual report to ‘create new essential products that people realize they always wanted’ through a ‘shift in categories.’ This means developing medical diagnostic imaging monitors, 3D high-definition digital mirrors and electronic textbooks,” explains the article.
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