Panasonic latest tech giant pummelled by recession

by Stevie Smith - May 15 2009, 15:15

Evidently, some of Japan’s technology heavyweights are having an extemely bad week. More pointedly, following on from Sony Corporation’s confirmation that it lost $1 billion USD across the last fiscal year, fellow consumer electronics behemoth Panasonic has announced gut-punching fiscal losses of almost $4 billion USD.

Making Sony’s mammoth shortfall appear something of a pittance by comparison, Osaka-based Panasonic Corporation has racked up losses of 379 billion yen and has seen its group sales decline by 14 percent over the last 12 months (ending March 31 of 2009), which has lopped 7.5 yen per share off the business’s year-end dividend.

While Panasonic expects to experience a recovery across the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2010, the company is still forecasting losses of around 195 billion yen or just over $2 billion USD.

Panasonic’s grim outlook is offset by sweeping restructuring plans that will result in the loss of some 15,000 jobs around the world and also the closure of 27 of its plants – 13 of which are based in Japan.

Other leading Japanese industry players to feel the pinch of global recession and an increasing lack of consumer interest in their collective product portfolios, include NES Corporation and Hitachi, which have recently posted fiscal losses of $3 billion USD and $8 billion USD respectively.

CNN reports that the number crunchers at Shinko Research Institute have highlighted Hitachi’s fiscal loss of $8 billion USD (approx. 767 billion yen) as the largest decline ever recorded by a Japanese electronics manufacturer.

The Tech Herald: Sony loses $1 billion. No PlayStation 3 price cut at E3?

The Tech Herald: Microsoft adjusts to recession with 5,000 job losses

 

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