從最近有關(guān)日本的報導(dǎo)看來，日本消費電子大廠──索尼(Sony)和松下(Panasonic)的新任CEO──應(yīng)該會讓你同時感到充滿希望，但卻也夾雜著稍許疲倦的感覺。 好吧，至少這是我的感受。 索尼的Kazuo Hirai和松下的Kazuhiro Tsuga年齡都在50歲左右──與日本傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)對照，二位新任CEO都算年輕。 他們都接受美國教育；和日本傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)領(lǐng)袖相比，他們令人耳目一新，但他們面臨著的棘手問題，可能會讓他們倒抽一口氣，做出像傳統(tǒng)日本企業(yè)主管一樣的反應(yīng)：“嗯……根據(jù)研究……” 在被提拔到當前地位以前，他們都各自在自己的公司負責(zé)電視業(yè)務(wù)，恰好，這也是兩家消費巨擘的傳統(tǒng)“核心”業(yè)務(wù)。

松下新任CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga
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如果這確實是一個去比誰能更快放棄電視業(yè)務(wù)的競賽，那么，從公共輿論來看，松下Tsuga在似乎已經(jīng)是贏家了。 上周，有報導(dǎo)引述了Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities (東京)公司分析師Masahiro Ono的話，指出“松下的Tsuga已經(jīng)在維持該公司視聽產(chǎn)品部門正常運作的同時，展開了杰出的改革?！? 松下承認在電視面板方面的大舉投資策略有誤，而索尼的Hirai則不曾批評該公司過去的錯誤策略。相較之下，“Hirai從未說過索尼曾犯過哪些錯誤，”該報導(dǎo)引述Ono 的分析表示。 事實上，一些業(yè)界傳聞也顯示，與索尼的Hirai相比，松下的新任CEO或許更加直接，但有時卻也顯得不合時宜。 舉例來說，上周五日經(jīng)報導(dǎo)：“松下的Tsuga在接掌虧損連連的電視部門后，贏得了大膽決策者的名聲。去年四月接掌電視部門后，他在家中安裝了松下和競爭對手的電視，并從消費者的角度來對二者進行評比。 他在上任后迅速調(diào)整各部門的業(yè)務(wù)，關(guān)閉其先進的電漿顯示器工廠，進而扭轉(zhuǎn)了松下的電視業(yè)務(wù)虧損情況。 隨后，Tsuga舉行了接任CEO之后的首次記者會，他談到了松下面臨的問題，該公司在截至三月底的上一個會計年度創(chuàng)下了7,721億日圓的凈虧損記錄， 必須采取一些措施來解決此一問題。日經(jīng)引述了Tsuga的發(fā)言：“電視已經(jīng)是一種白色家電了，”他的意思是，電視已經(jīng)是一種通用型家電產(chǎn)品?！拔覀儽仨氃O(shè)法降低公司內(nèi)部的繁忙工作，并專注在客戶的需求上?！? 我還蠻欣賞Tsuga的發(fā)言。 相較于電視這個一度被視為神圣不可侵犯的商品，新任CEO將更加關(guān)注在冰箱和洗衣機等產(chǎn)品上，而不再僅專注于日本的電視業(yè)務(wù)。目前，松下的冰箱和洗衣機大部份都在東南亞生產(chǎn)。 重點來了！ 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 本文下一頁：誰會是第一家站起來的日企？

相關(guān)閱讀：
• 因自有終端品牌，三星及LGD面板漸被中國電視廠商棄用
• 2012電視市場：LCD增長放緩，整體出貨量下跌
• 三星及LGD引領(lǐng)技術(shù)升級，AMOLED電視后勁十足QUDesmc

{pagination} 我并不在乎日本消費電子大廠是否棄守電視市場。我在意的，是這些消費電子巨擘能否定義出清晰的發(fā)展藍圖，一個能讓他們恢復(fù)獲利的中長期策略。 松下現(xiàn)在有一個新的“后電視時代”(post-TV) 口號：由新任CEO喊出的“生態(tài)與智能”(Eco and Smart)，旨在全面推廣智能能源管理政策，這將結(jié)合能源、儲能和節(jié)能等相關(guān)技術(shù)。 沒錯，你或許會得到這些印象：松下對太陽能技術(shù)相當感興趣，該公司開發(fā)和銷售的智能能源管理系統(tǒng)可以深入每一個家庭，而且能獲得較高利潤。 但你不得不承認，若以商業(yè)計劃的角度來看，這聽來仍過于含糊。 在此同時，索尼的Hirai則表示，索尼將把重點轉(zhuǎn)移到“三大核心”──數(shù)字影像、游戲、移動市場。然而，在有關(guān)電視業(yè)務(wù)部份，Hirai卻一直保持沉默。

索尼新任CEO Kazu Hirai
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順道一提，在所有有關(guān)日本的電視業(yè)務(wù)討論中，我認為最有遠見的日本公司既不是Tsuga帶領(lǐng)的松下，也不是Hirai領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的索尼。 在我看來，夏普才是。 或許有人會說，夏普出售其股份(和靈魂)給鴻海(通常也稱為富士康)創(chuàng)辦人郭臺銘是別無選擇的做法，因為夏普必須為生存而戰(zhàn)。有些人甚至對夏普最終將成為一家臺灣公司的這一舉動展開批評。 然而，這些看法都太短視了。 當市場經(jīng)濟全球化之際，其中的規(guī)模和成本問題，一家單一日本公司──無論規(guī)模多大──都無法再依靠一己之力了。在所有的日本電子制造商之中，夏普邁出了第一步，他們首先接受了這個殘酷的事實。 當然，許多業(yè)界人士認為，郭臺銘之所以能與夏普進行交易，是因為這家臺灣電子業(yè)巨擘和夏普之間締結(jié)伙伴關(guān)系是唯一能對抗三星(Samsnug)的途徑。事實上，我自本月初來到中國以后，就經(jīng)常聽到類似的言論──“日本必需與中國合作，才能對抗敗韓國”。 但，無論動機為何，日本消費電子制造商的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人都必須采取更靈活的策略才能生存下去。尋求日本企業(yè)之間的合作或合資的做法(如索尼和松下合作開發(fā)下一代 OLED電視面板)，并不是生存下去的好方法。保護本土IP是一回事。但日本企業(yè)現(xiàn)在必須延伸他們的觸角，越過邊境，尋求更廣大的合作，或是有能力購買其 IP的買家。 編譯： Joy Teng 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 本文下一頁：參考英文原文：Who recovers first? Panasonic, Sony or Sharp?，by Junko Yoshida

相關(guān)閱讀：
• 因自有終端品牌，三星及LGD面板漸被中國電視廠商棄用
• 2012電視市場：LCD增長放緩，整體出貨量下跌
• 三星及LGD引領(lǐng)技術(shù)升級，AMOLED電視后勁十足QUDesmc

{pagination} Who recovers first? Panasonic, Sony or Sharp? Junko Yoshida PARIS -- Recent reports from Japan on new CEOs at Japan’s two consumer electronics behemoths – Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. – should make you feel both hopeful and weary at the same time. Well, at least that’s how I feel. Sony’s Kazuo Hirai and Panasonic’s Kazuhiro Tsuga are both in their 50’s -- relatively young according to the Japanese corporate norm. They’re both U.S.-educated; and they are refreshingly outspoken compared to traditional Japanese executives who, faced with a tough question, tend to suck their teeth and mutter something like: “Well… that’s under study.” Before ascending to the head of their companies earlier this year, both executives most recently led their respective TV business units, both of which are historically considered as the “core” business of the CE giants. Now, Japan’s media and the financial community appear hell bent on the new theory that whichever company can say sayonara to its TV unit faster will win their trust and more swiftly recover from a plague of record losses. Kazuhiro Tsuga, new Panasonic CEO If this were indeed a race about who abandons the TV business faster, Panasonic’s Tsuga appears to be already a winner in the court of public opinions. Bloomberg, earlier this week, reported that “Panasonic’s Tsuga built an ‘outstanding’ reputation for making reforms while running the audiovisual unit.’ It was quoting Masahiro Ono, a Tokyo-based analyst at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. The Bloomberg story went on, “Panasonic also conceded making mistakes by investing too heavily in TV panels, unlike Hirai, who hasn’t criticized Sony’s past errors.” In contrast, “Hirai has never come out and said what’s wrong at Sony,” said the report, quoting Ono. Indeed, there is some anecdotal evidence that Panasonic’s new CEO may be a lot more direct and less politically correct than Sony’s Hirai. Nikkei, for example, Friday reported: “[Panasonic’s] Tsuga earned a reputation as bold decision maker as head of the company's money-losing TV unit. Soon after he took over the unit in April of last year, he had Panasonic sets and rival brands installed in his home to compare them from the consumer's viewpoint. “He moved quickly to restructure the unit's operations, shuttering a state-of-the-art plasma display plant, for example, untroubled by the symbolic value of the TV business. That helped Tsuga restore the unit's profitability.” In his first press conference as CEO on Thursday, Tsuga spoke about problems at the company, which reported a record net loss of 772.1 billion yen for the year through March, and the steps needed to fix them. Nikkei quoted Tsuga: "TVs are already a type of white good," referring to commoditized home appliances. "We need to reduce internal busywork and focus on customer needs." Now, I did like this comment by Tsuga. Comparing the TV unit – once a sacred cow – with refrigerators and washing machines is a clear admission on the part of the new CEO that Panasonic will no longer make their own TVs in Japan. Most of their refrigerators and washing machines have long been made in Southeast Asia. But here’s the thing. I don’t care if Japanese CE companies unload their TV units. I care even less who ditches TV faster. However, I do care about the absence of a clear path defined by these CE giants to restore their profitability in the medium to long term. Panasonic now has a new “post-TV” slogan: "Eco and Smart" coined by the new CEO to promote a comprehensive smart energy management policy that “incorporates created energy, stored energy and saved energy.” Well, you may get the drift that Panasonic is interested in pursuing solar technology; developing and selling smart energy management systems (that can go into every home at a higher margin, for example). But you’ve got to admit that this is still too vague to call it a winning business plan at this point. Meanwhile, Sony’s Hirai is on record saying that Sony will shift its focus to "three core pillars" -- digital imaging, gaming, and the mobile market. Hirai, however, has been silent on the key question as to where Sony’s TV business fits into the whole picture. Kazu Hirai, new CEO at Sony Amidst of all this non-TV, post-TV discussion in Japan, incidentally, I believe the Japanese company with the most foresight is neither Panasonic led by Tsuga nor Sony led by Hirai. In my opinion, it’s Sharp. One may argue that Sharp had no choice but sell its shares (and soul) to Terry Gou, the founder of Hon Hai (also commonly known as Foxconn), in order to fight for survival. Some even criticize this action as paving the way to Sharp eventually becoming a Taiwanese company. That, however, is truly a short-sighted view. When the market and the economy are truly becoming global, where the scale and the cost do matter, a single Japanese company – no matter how big -- can’t go it alone. Sharp – among all the Japanese electronics manufacturers – took the first step to embrace that hard reality. Of course, many say Gou was able to talk Sharp into the deal because the partnership between Taiwan’s EMS giant and Sharp is the only way to go head-to-head against Samsung and eventually win the battle in the global flat-panel screen market. In fact, I heard similar talk – “Japan needs to partner with China in order to beat Korean” – often while traveling in China earlier this month. Whatever the motive, though, it’s clear that the survival of Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers hinges on the flexibility of Japanese executives. The practice of seeking partnerships or joint ventures only among Japanese companies (i.e. Sony and Panasonic to develop the next generation OLED panels for TVs) is not the recipe for survival. Protecting home-grown IPs is one thing. But Japan must spread its wings to look beyond the border to seek partners or buyers of IPs.