上周，當(dāng)我采訪瑞薩電子(Renesas Electronics)總裁Yasushi Akao (赤尾泰)時(shí)，赤尾拒絕用“日本”作為該公司處于混亂狀態(tài)的借口。 我相信，繼續(xù)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)這家陷入困境公司的總裁赤尾泰，認(rèn)為將問題歸咎于“日本卓異論”(Japanese exceptionalism)，是相當(dāng)愚蠢的舉動(dòng)。 然而，事情是這樣的。 我記得，瑞薩的危機(jī)可以追溯到兩年多以前，過去二十年來，這家公司也展現(xiàn)了日本這個(gè)國家拘泥不化的傳統(tǒng)特性。瑞薩完完全全是一家日本企業(yè)，而日本，正是問題的關(guān)鍵所在。 讓我們繼續(xù)看下去！ 在我看來，瑞薩科技(Renesas Technology)在2010年被迫與NEC電子(NEC Electronics)合并成為瑞薩電子公司。在成為瑞薩電子以前，瑞薩科技業(yè)已整合了日立(Hitachi)和三菱(Mitsubishi)的芯片部門。 瑞薩追隨著爾必達(dá)(Elpida)早已采取過的類似步驟，而今，爾必達(dá)這家結(jié)合了日立和NEC電子DRAM部門的公司，已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)。 作為日本最大的微控制器(MCU)供貨商，瑞薩也可能會(huì)感到有責(zé)任維持日本汽車產(chǎn)業(yè)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位并推動(dòng)該產(chǎn)業(yè)成長。畢竟，汽車是日本的旗艦產(chǎn)業(yè)。 由原日立、三菱和NEC組成的瑞薩電子，也進(jìn)入了SoC業(yè)務(wù)，因?yàn)樗麄兛吹搅巳毡鞠M(fèi)電子產(chǎn)業(yè)中的機(jī)會(huì)，這無疑是另一個(gè)極具前瞻性的產(chǎn)業(yè)。不可否認(rèn)，一直到……或許是10年前吧，日本的消費(fèi)電子品牌仍然領(lǐng)導(dǎo)著全球CD、DVD、數(shù)字相機(jī)和平板電視市場。 我們都知道，只要日本繼續(xù)扮演著健康成長市場的角色，就沒有人會(huì)將這兩家公司面臨的危機(jī)與日本“患難與共”(all-in-this-together)的產(chǎn)業(yè)精神聯(lián)想在一起。畢竟，瑞薩的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)都在日本，而且之前在一定程度上運(yùn)作得都還算不錯(cuò)。 從設(shè)計(jì)、制造到市場和金融，瑞薩永遠(yuǎn)只找日本的合作伙伴，而且所有的日本企業(yè)都這樣做。 但黃金時(shí)代已經(jīng)結(jié)束了。 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：日本是一個(gè)金色的籠子

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{pagination} 去年12月，我在巴黎會(huì)晤了瑞薩子公司──瑞薩移動(dòng)(Renesas Mobile)負(fù)責(zé)行動(dòng)芯片業(yè)務(wù)的資深主管。當(dāng)被問及瑞薩移動(dòng)面臨的若隱若現(xiàn)的挑戰(zhàn)時(shí)，他談到了在滿足國內(nèi)需求的同時(shí)，也必須平衡他該公司不斷成長的全球 業(yè)務(wù)。這位主管表示，為應(yīng)對新的全球挑戰(zhàn)，這家公司已經(jīng)掙脫了NTT Docomo打造的“金色籠子”。但另一方面，他也指出，這家公司已經(jīng)沒有能力因應(yīng)日本領(lǐng)先消費(fèi)電子產(chǎn)品制造商要求定制產(chǎn)品的需求了。 這句“金色籠子”一直徘徊在我的腦海中。 這是瑞薩移動(dòng)獨(dú)特的孤寂處境。它的母公司──瑞薩電子則被困在稱之為“日本”的“金色籠子”之中。 只要這只金色籠子仍然存在，日本就會(huì)不斷要求瑞薩公司。無法逃離這只籠子的瑞薩，在籠子的金色外漆剝落，開始露出黃銅時(shí)，也就代表了這家公司將步入停滯時(shí)期。 將一家芯片公司當(dāng)作一個(gè)國家的標(biāo)志，是上世紀(jì)的事了。 現(xiàn)在，是日本官僚、日本企業(yè)和日本企業(yè)管理體系真正釋放瑞薩的時(shí)候了。讓我們自由地飛翔，采取全新的管理措施，讓這家公司走向嶄新的道路。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯： Joy Teng 參考英文原文：Free Renesas from its golden cage called Japan ，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Free Renesas from its golden cage called Japan Junko Yoshida TOKYO – The Monday morning quarterbacks are out in force talking about what went wrong with Renesas Electronics over the past two years. Many of you have already spoken. And the analyses tend to be rich with insight. When I spoke with Yasushi Akao, president of Renesas Electronics, this week, Akao refused to play the “Japan” card to explain the mess the company is in. I am sure that Akao, who’s still heading up the troubled company as its president, considers it silly to blame his problems on “Japanese exceptionalism.” But here’s the thing. Renesas’ crisis, in my mind, goes back more than two years, and it embodies the rut in which Japan as a nation has been stuck for the last two decades. Renesas was created by Japan, for Japan and of Japan, and Japan is the crux of the issue. Let me break it down. Renesas Technology, in my opinion, was forced to merge with NEC Electronics to become Renesas Electronics in 2010 -- in the name of saving the Japanese semiconductor industry. Before becoming Renesas Electronics, Renesas Technology was already a company tasked to absorb chip divisions of Hitachi and Mitsubishi. Renesas followed similar footsteps already taken by Elpida, an amalgamation of DRAM divisions at Hitachi and NEC Electronics. Elpida, today, is bankrupt. As Japan’s largest MCU company, Renesas may have also felt responsible for keeping Japan’s automotive industry strong and growing. After all, cars are Japan’s flagship industry. Renesas (originally Hitachi, Mitsubishi and NEC) also went into the SoC business, because they saw an opportunity to serve Japan’s consumer electronics industry, which is another iconic industry. There’s no denying that Japanese CE brands led the global market with CDs, DVDs, digital cameras and flat panel TV — until, perhaps, 10 years ago. As long as Japan served as a healthy, growing market, we all know that nobody thought twice about Japan’s all-in-this-together industrial policy. After all, Renesas’ entire eco-system existed in Japan and it was functioning fairly well – up to a point. From everything from design, manufacture to market and financing, Renesas looked for Japanese partners and did so for Japan. But it’s time to end that. Last December, I met in Paris a senior executive working at Renesas Mobile, a subsidiary of Renesas responsible for its mobile chip business. Asked about challenges looming for Renesas Mobile, he talked about the need to balance his company’s growing global business while meeting domestic needs. On one hand, with Renesas Mobile’s new global charter, the executive explained that the company has freed itself from what he called the “golden cage” created by NTT Docomo. On the other, he said that it simply cannot afford to underserve Japan’s leading consumer electronics OEMs that continue to demand custom products. The phrase, “golden cage,” stuck in my head. This is not endemic to Renesas Mobile alone. Its parent, Renesas Eelectronics, has been trapped in a “golden cage” called Japan. It was OK to do what Japan asked Renesas to do as long as the cage remained golden. But being unable to flee from that cage — as the goldplate flakes away, exposing the brass — has kept Renesas frozen in time. Being a chip company as a national flag carrier is so last century. It’s time for Japanese bureaucrats, Japanese industries and Japanese management to free Renesas. Let new management fly free, toward a new path for the company.