The waves of the tsunami continue to hit Japanese companies. Record losses expected for 2011 for electronics giant Panasonic: a $10,2 billion hole for the fiscal year ending in March. It is the historic minimum after the 5,7 billion lost in 2002. The collapse was caused not only by the reflections of the tsunami in Japan, but above all by the latest flood in Thailand.
The sector most damaged was that of plasma screens, which was weighed down by the slowdown in global demand and the difficulty in supplies after the earthquake of March 2011. The budget could worsen due to the redundancy due to the acquisition of Sanyo Electric and the investment of about 600 million dollars in a solar panels in Malaysia. However, Panasonic expects to be able to record positive revenues, but only 30 billion yen (when estimates predicted 130 billion), against 305 billion last year.
The president of the group, Fumio Ohtsuboharakiri said, apologizing for the unexpected losses: “I feel the responsibility for this huge amount”, he has declared. Ohtsubo said the top earning products were refrigerators, dishwashers and other household appliances, which increased its latest quarterly results by more than 8%. And in addition to these products, next year Panasonic will focus on razors, massage chairs, kitchen appliances and illuminated toilet tables. This is the strategy that according to Ohtsubo will pull Panasonic out of the abyss in which it has sunk.
