Giants' performance improved, but Japanese consumer electronics revival is difficult

Japanese electronics giants Panasonic , Sony and Sharp , which were once troubled by huge losses , continued to improve their performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 (April to June this year). Panasonic reversed the downward trend in revenue, Sony's net profit increased sevenfold year-on-year, and Sharp's losses were significantly narrowed.

Recently, four Japanese electronics companies including Sony and Panasonic announced that they would set up a joint venture company for OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels, hoping to compete with Korean companies in the field of next-generation display technology. However, the revival of Japan's consumer electronics industry is still difficult.

Performance improvement

Panasonic released its first quarterly report for fiscal year 2014 on August 1, showing that from April to June this year, Panasonic's sales amounted to 1852.3 billion yen, a slight increase of 2% year-on-year; operating profit was 82.3 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 28%; net profit was 37.9 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 35%. This means that after turning losses into profits in fiscal year 2013, Panasonic is entering a healthy track of both revenue and profit growth.

Panasonic said: "The trend of declining sales for several years has finally been curbed." This is because the decline in market demand caused by the increase in consumption tax in Japan was less than expected, and related businesses such as residential and automotive have achieved sustained and stable growth. From a regional perspective, all regions except Europe achieved revenue growth.

As the air-conditioning business in China gradually recovered from the slump last year, sales of energy systems, PanaHome and other residential businesses and in-car entertainment systems have further expanded. Therefore, excluding the impact of exchange rates and business transfers, Panasonic achieved a profit growth of 27.8 billion yen in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

Sony, which failed to turn a profit last year, saw a sharp increase in net profit in the first quarter of this year. Sony released its quarterly report on July 31, revealing that in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 ending June 30 this year, Sony's sales revenue increased by 5.8% year-on-year to 1809.9 billion yen; operating profit increased by 96.7% year-on-year to 69.8 billion yen; and net profit increased by 757.3% year-on-year to 26.8 billion yen.

The hot sales of PS4, the growth of movie box office revenue and favorable exchange rates have driven the growth of Sony's revenue. Sony's game and network service business achieved sales revenue of 257.5 billion yen in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, a year-on-year increase of 95.7%; operating profit was 4.3 billion yen. Thanks to the strong global box office of the movies "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "21 Jump Street 2", Sony's film and television business sales revenue increased by 22.6% year-on-year to 194.8 billion yen, and operating profit increased by 4.1 billion yen year-on-year to 7.8 billion yen.

A series of "slimming" actions and improved performance of the game console business have brought growth to Sony's operating profit. The loss-making VAIO laptop business was officially sold on July 1; Sony's TV business, which was spun off and operated separately on July 1, saw sales revenue increase by 10.5% year-on-year to 205 billion yen in the first quarter, and operating profit increased by 2.7 billion yen to 7.9 billion yen.

Sharp, which turned a profit last year, has significantly narrowed its losses in the first quarter of this year. According to its quarterly report released on July 31, Sharp's revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 was 619.7 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%; operating profit was 4.6 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 55%; net profit was a loss of 1.7 billion yen, while its loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 was 17.9 billion yen. The main reasons for Sharp's losses in the first quarter were the civil lawsuit involving LCD panels and the structural reform of its European solar business.

Sharp expects that its revenue in fiscal 2014 will reach 3 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 2.5%; its net profit will reach 30 billion yen, 2.6 times that of the previous year. Among them, the information appliance business including TVs and mobile phones will have a revenue of 780 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%; the health and environmental appliances will have a revenue of 360 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%; the LCD panel business will have a revenue of 1 trillion yen, a slight increase of 0.9%; and the electronic components business will have a revenue of 430 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%.

Difficulty in recovery

On July 31, Japan Innovation Networks, Japan Display, Sony and Panasonic announced that they would establish a joint venture company for OLED panels, JOLED Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "JOLED"), to integrate the research and development functions of Sony and Panasonic's organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels. The new company will start operations in January 2015, with medium-sized OLED panels for tablets and mobile personal computers as its main products.

Currently, Samsung monopolizes about 90% of the global small and medium-sized OLED panel market, and the application of OLED panels in mobile phones has matured; another Korean company, LG, has achieved mass production of large-size OLED TV panels and launched a number of OLED TVs. Sony and Panasonic once cooperated in the research and development of OLED panels, but the cooperation between the two sides was suspended. This time, the two Japanese electronics giants have joined forces again, showing that Japanese companies are optimistic about the commercial prospects of OLED and hope to narrow the gap with Korean companies in the field of next-generation display technology.

Sharp, relying on IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology, consolidates its advantages in LCD technology and expands its diversified customer base. Sharp will focus on the development of high-definition small and medium-sized LCD screens. The proportion of small and medium-sized LCD panel products in Guishan Second Factory has increased from 28% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 to 35%, because small and medium-sized LCD panels have higher profit margins.

According to Japanese media reports, in July this year, Sharp offered Apple 30 billion yen to purchase the equipment of Kameyama No. 1 Factory. In 2012, the factory invested 100 billion yen to transform the equipment from producing TV panels to iPhone displays, of which Apple invested half and owned the equipment. Once the equipment is repurchased, Kameyama No. 1 Factory will be able to develop more customers.

Although Japanese electronics giants want to regain their strength in the consumer electronics field, they still face many difficulties in making a comeback due to fierce competition from South Korean and Chinese companies.

Sony has lowered its sales targets for color TVs and mobile phones this year. The sales of color TVs in fiscal 2014 will be reduced from 16 million to 15.5 million units to ensure that the color TV business will turn a profit this year. At the same time, Sony's sales target for mobile phones in fiscal 2014 has also been lowered from 50 million to 43 million units.

After buying back half of Sony Ericsson's shares from Ericsson a few years ago, Sony wanted to use mobile phones as the core of "multi-screen interaction" and strive to become the third in the industry. However, this goal is now gradually fading away. This year, Huawei, Lenovo, and Xiaomi have ranked third, fourth, and fifth in the global smartphone market share, second only to Samsung and Apple. Sony Mobile Phones fell into a loss again in the first quarter of fiscal year 2014. In the future, it will carefully select the models of mobile phones and the countries where they are sold.

Toshiba is also doing "reduction" in its color TV business. In order to turn the color TV business around, after closing down TV factories in Europe and China, Toshiba plans to cut half of its overseas TV sales agencies this year. By fiscal 2015, Toshiba's color TV overseas sales companies will be reduced from 24 in fiscal 2014 to 12.

Chen Yan, executive director of the Japan Enterprise (China) Research Institute, told the reporter of China Business News that the Japanese electronics industry has passed its peak and must transform. The shift from the B2C field to the B2B field and the core component field is still the general trend for Japanese electronics companies.

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.