Is there anything we can learn from Japanese companies now that they have fallen from their pedestal?

Once upon a time, the distinctive characteristics of the Japanese business model, combined with its superior manufacturing standards, provided a guarantee for the success of Japanese companies, helping them to recover and rise rapidly after the war. As a result, Japanese companies have always been the leaders in the industry in the last century, just like the line in the movie "Back to the Future 3" - "The best things are made in Japan."

However, with the development of the times, the problems in the development process of Japanese companies have gradually emerged.

In the 1990s, Japan entered a period of "lost decade", which caused Japanese enterprises to enter a period of decline, and calls for reflection and reform of Japan's business model began to emerge.

Japanese companies falling from grace

As one of the world's largest electronic product manufacturers, Sony is a leader in the fields of audio-visual, electronic games, communication products and information technology, and the pioneer of the world's earliest portable digital products. However, Sony has been running a continuous fiscal deficit since 2012, with a net loss of 126 billion yen in fiscal 2014. This forced Sony to sell its US headquarters building and old Tokyo headquarters to real estate developers in 2013 and 2014, as well as its PC and e-book businesses, and began to lay off a large number of employees.

Sharp, known as the "Father of LCD", undoubtedly produces industry-leading LCD panels. However, the stock price fell and it was delisted in 2012, followed by a credit rating downgrade, and the sale of its headquarters building due to a net loss of 30 billion yen in fiscal 2014, which put Sharp on the brink of bankruptcy.

Panasonic, a long-established Japanese electronics manufacturer, is renowned worldwide for its brand products covering home appliances, digital audio-visual electronics, office products, aviation and many other fields. On October 31, 2012, it announced that it would lower its consolidated final profit and loss forecast for fiscal 2012 from a profit of 50 billion yen to a loss of 765 billion yen. As it cuts back on its mobile phone and battery businesses, its accounting losses will swell. This is the second time Panasonic has suffered a large loss after a loss of 772.1 billion yen in the previous fiscal year, and its annual dividend has dropped to zero for the first time in 63 years since fiscal 1949.

Sanyo, a 60-year-old enterprise group, has products in many fields including displays, mobile phones, digital cameras, machinery, and biopharmaceuticals. However, due to a large fiscal deficit, it was acquired by Panasonic in 2008. In 2011, Haier Group reached a preliminary agreement with Sanyo Electric, a subsidiary of Panasonic, to acquire Sanyo Electric's washing machines, refrigerators and other home appliance businesses in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam for about 10 billion yen (about 837 million yuan).

Since the 1980s, Toshiba has transformed from a company mainly engaged in home appliances and heavy motors to a comprehensive electronic and electrical company including communications and electronics. In the 1990s, Toshiba achieved rapid development in digital technology, mobile communication technology and network technology, and successfully transformed from a giant in the home appliance industry to a pioneer in the IT industry. In 2014, due to the loss of the computer business, Toshiba will lay off about 900 employees worldwide in the 2014 fiscal year. The popularity of smartphones and tablets has dealt a blow to the computer business. In the future, Toshiba will strengthen the sales of commercial computers with stable demand, significantly reduce the personal computer business that is easily affected by the market, and withdraw from the market in some regions.

As a comprehensive enterprise, Mitsubishi's products cover many industries and play a pivotal role in the modernization of Japanese industry. However, due to financial asset problems, Mitsubishi's well-known automobile department stopped the development of sedans and performance cars in order to cut investment. In 2015, it was rumored that it would bid farewell to the sedan product line.

Why are Japanese companies declining as a group?

Through the phenomenon of collective decline of these Japanese companies, it is not difficult to see that the failure of Japanese companies lies in their misjudgment of the market.

For example, compared with the equally expensive Apple, Americans' approach is much more sophisticated. Although the Apple MacBook is priced at nearly 10,000 yuan, it is affordable for an ordinary person who lives frugally and eats instant noodles for a few months. In comparison, the price of Sony BRAVIA TV in the Chinese market ranges from 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, and up to 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, which is out of reach for people no matter how much they eat pickled cabbage.

In addition to Sony, Sharp gave up its main business of TV LCD panels and chose to enter the extremely niche market of 4K smartphone screens below 6 inches. Mitsubishi Motors' product line for the civilian market is too single. Even if it has produced unprecedented models such as Lancer Evolution, it has ignored the market trend, and the result is that a large number of users have been lost. Lancer EVO, which is regarded as a masterpiece by car fans, eventually died.

Panasonic, Sanyo and Toshiba are all losers in the market competition.

What should Chinese companies see?

Compared with the decline of Japanese companies, China has the largest consumer market in the world. In recent years, a large number of Chinese companies, led by Xiaomi, have risen rapidly in a short period of time. There are even rumors that Sony is learning from Xiaomi and Xiaomi plans to acquire Sony.

But in essence, most domestic companies are "assembly" manufacturers and have not had sufficient core technologies since the beginning of their development.

It is not uncommon for a smartphone to have a screen from Sharp or LG, a processor from Samsung or Qualcomm, and a camera from Sony. This has indeed effectively reduced the product development cycle and helped to grasp the market trend, but can it really continue? The crises that some domestic mobile phone brands have repeatedly encountered in India should be enough to illustrate the problem.

From another perspective, although Apple's iPhone is known to be made in China, the United States, Japan and South Korea respectively obtained 49.4%, 34% and 13% of the profit share through design and technology, while China obtained less than 4% of the profit through production. Indeed, the homepages of manufacturers such as Foxconn are OEM, but the Xiaomi and Lenovo that we are familiar with, even though they have rich product lines, are they not "Foxconn"?

That’s right, the Japanese companies that were once independent are now often associated with words like “decline, restructuring, and layoffs,” but when it comes to technology from Japan, especially cutting-edge technology such as display and imaging, Japanese brands are still in the first echelon in the world.

An "assembly plant" and a "tech geek", are Japanese companies still role models for Chinese brands?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.