日本消費性電子廠商正在康復(fù)中嗎？他們最壞的日子已經(jīng)過去了？有鑒于日圓匯率在上一季仍扮演讓眾多日本業(yè)者業(yè)績成長的推手，要說日本消費性電子業(yè)者已經(jīng)恢復(fù)往日榮景，恐怕還嫌太早。在此同時，另一個讓金融圈持續(xù)關(guān)注的迫切問題是，包括 Sony 與 Panasonic 在內(nèi)的日本消費性電子大廠將在多短的時間內(nèi)從消費性電子領(lǐng)域脫身并且轉(zhuǎn)型？ Sony 與 Panasonic 日前公布了最新的財報預(yù)測數(shù)字，讓眾家財經(jīng)分析師紛紛加入了贊揚(yáng)Panasonic的行列中，同時放棄了 Sony ──在7月至9月達(dá)到193億日圓(1.97億美元)凈損的 Sony 近日發(fā)出警告，表示該公司恐怕無法達(dá)到先前的全年營利目標(biāo)，目前預(yù)計全年度營業(yè)利潤將下滑26%，來到1,700億日圓(17.3億美元)。 至于Panasonic則預(yù)期截止于3月31日的本財務(wù)年度營業(yè)利潤將成長68%，來到2,700億日圓，該公司估計全年度凈利潤將達(dá)到1,000億日圓(10.2億美元)；而Panasonic在上一個財務(wù)年度的虧損達(dá)到7,542億日圓(76.8億美元)。 Panasonic的轉(zhuǎn)虧為盈是拜大刀闊斧的組織重整之賜，該公司放棄了電漿電視以及智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)，并將部分資產(chǎn)出售，將80%的醫(yī)療保健部門股份以1,650億日圓(16.8億美元)價格出售給美國投資業(yè)者KKR & Co。 在此同時，Panasonic表示其住宅與汽車電子業(yè)績呈現(xiàn)成長，不久前還宣布該公司對電動車廠Tesla的鋰電池供應(yīng)量將大幅增加，由兩年前累計至今年底的2,000萬顆電池芯，在2017年將達(dá)到近20億顆。而多家分析師都認(rèn)為，Panasonic優(yōu)于預(yù)期的財報數(shù)字，主要歸功于該公司選擇遠(yuǎn)離消費性電子市場。 在Sony這廂，分析師們紛紛責(zé)難該公司對已經(jīng)呈現(xiàn)赤字的電視業(yè)務(wù)獲利預(yù)測下修；Sony日前表示，該公司電視業(yè)務(wù)在4~6月于三年來首度呈現(xiàn)獲利52億日圓(5,300萬美元)之后，本季又出現(xiàn)了93億(9,500萬美元)日圓的營業(yè)虧損。 視頻攝影機(jī)與個人計算機(jī)業(yè)績衰弱也對Sony帶來沖擊，不過該公司的智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)卻情勢看漲──Sony維持了對本會計年度智能手機(jī)銷售量4,200萬支的預(yù)測，該公司在7~9月的智能手機(jī)銷售量則為1,000萬支。此外Sony對視頻游戲機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)前景也仍保持高度期望，公司最新的 PlayStation 4 游戲機(jī)已經(jīng)于11月上市。 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：Sony與Panasonic的未來，哪些業(yè)務(wù)必須拋棄？

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• 索尼，你還是消費性電子企業(yè)嗎？hZcesmc

{pagination} 對 于Sony與Panasonic的未來，市場觀察家的普遍看法是，誰能果斷地盡快拋棄電視業(yè)務(wù)，誰就能越快讓業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)展走向正軌。也有不少人對于Sony首席執(zhí) 行官平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai)所謂的“三管齊下”策略──聚焦于移動設(shè)備、影像與游戲機(jī)技術(shù)──感到質(zhì)疑。但也不是所有人都同意市場以上看法。 Radio Free Mobile的分析師Richard Windsor不久前就發(fā)表一篇博客文章，認(rèn)為平井的三管齊下策略“絕對是妙招”；但Windsor也指出：“真正的問題在于他要花多長時間才能實現(xiàn)其愿景，或是不耐煩的股東們是否會在他手下將公司給賣掉?！? Windsor形容，平井的愿景是：“將Sony由笨重的企業(yè)體，轉(zhuǎn)型為兼具軟硬件能力的整合性生態(tài)系統(tǒng)；這是正確的，但卻非常難執(zhí)行，將花很長的時間才能達(dá)到最佳效果。”他認(rèn)為，擁有從電子到媒體等業(yè)務(wù)的Sony，將會是唯一有機(jī)會建構(gòu)數(shù)字化生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的日本廠商。 不 過，實際上除了Sony虛弱不振的電視、影像與PC業(yè)績，該公司第二季虧損主要來自其電影業(yè)務(wù)，當(dāng)季營業(yè)虧損達(dá)到了178億日圓(1.81萬美元)；在上 一年度同期，該業(yè)務(wù)則是獲利79億日圓(8,000萬美元)。Sony指出，這主要原因是因為該公司的部分電影作品票房不佳。 雖然Windsor將Sony的電影業(yè)務(wù)大幅虧損視為“運(yùn)氣不佳”，但該公司的電影與音樂業(yè)務(wù)恐怕將再次成為被嚴(yán)格監(jiān)督的目標(biāo)──特別是Sony的大股東Daniel Loeb稍早之前提案，Sony應(yīng)該將娛樂事業(yè)獨立IPO。 而 Panasonic這邊仍值得觀察的是，其非消費性電子業(yè)務(wù)──汽車、電池、住宅與工業(yè)等──是否會持續(xù)在未來幾年成長。對此Windsor批 評，Panasonic削減成本已經(jīng)到了“匪夷所思”的地步，他認(rèn)為：“Panasonic在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域已經(jīng)走到盡頭，也許該公司會賺錢，但再也不會有什么偉大成就；這將在短期之內(nèi)有助于股價上揚(yáng)，但長期看來，該公司是在走偏門?！? 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Sony & Panasonic: Out of the Woods?，by Junko Yoshida

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• 松下宣布將于2014年退出電漿電視業(yè)務(wù)
• 當(dāng)電子業(yè)務(wù)成為索尼的拖累……
• 索尼，你還是消費性電子企業(yè)嗎？hZcesmc

{pagination} Sony & Panasonic: Out of the Woods? Junko Yoshida MADISON, Wis. — Are Japanese consumer electronics companies on the mend? Is the worst over? Considering that the Japanese yen worked as a major tailwind for many Japanese companies in the last quarter, it's probably still too early to declare the Japanese consumer electronics industry's full recovery. Meanwhile, a more pressing question the financial community keeps asking is how soon Japanese electronics giants such as Sony and Panasonic will get out of the CE business and turn themselves into something else. Contrasting full-year financial forecasts issued by the two companies -- Panasonic and Sony -- this week tell an intriguing story that got many financial analysts to suddenly jump on the bandwagon in praising Panasonic, while ditching Sony. Sony on Thursday, Oct. 31, warned that the company will not meet previous full-year profit targets, after sliding to a net loss of 19.3 billion yen (US$197 million) for July to September. Sony now sees its full-year operating profit falling 26 percent to 170 billion yen ($1.73 billion). In contrast, Panasonic now expects operating profit to climb 68 percent to 270 billion yen in the fiscal year ending March 31. It sees net profit coming in at 100 billion yen ($1.02 billion), compared with a year-earlier loss of 754.2 billion yen ($7.68 billion). Panasonic's turnaround is a result of a round of heavy restructuring. The Japanese company pulled out of plasma TVs and smartphones. The company also sold assets, agreeing recently to the sale of 80 percent of its healthcare unit to US buyout firm KKR & Co for 165 billion yen ($1.68 billion). Meanwhile, Panasonic claims that sales of residential and automotive electronics are growing. The Osaka-based company also announced earlier this week that it would sharply increase its supply of lithium batteries to Tesla to nearly 2 billion cells in the four years to 2017 -- a huge jump from the 200 million cells it is supposed to have provided over the two years to this December. Many analysts attribute Panasonic's better-than-expected results to the shift in the company's business away from consumer electronics. In contrast, many analysts blamed Sony's falling profit outlook on its TV business, which is now back in the red. Sony said Thursday that its TV business went back into a 9.3 billion yen ($95 million) operating loss, after the company's TV division showed its first quarterly profit in three years in April-June with a 5.2 billion yen ($53 million) operating profit. The weak sales of video cameras and personal computers are also hurting Sony. Sony's smartphone business, however, is believed to be holding up in the latest quarter. According to the Japanese company, it still expects to sell 42 million smartphones this fiscal year, unchanged from previous guidance. The company sold 10 million in the three months between July and September. Meanwhile, Sony is still holding high hopes for its video games business. The company is scheduled to launch new PlayStation 4 game consoles in November. A popular view of Sony and Panasonic says that those who decisively ditch the TV business sooner would restore the health of their business more quickly. Many are also calling into question Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai's so-called "three-pronged strategy" -- focused on mobile devices, imaging technology, and gaming. But not everyone agrees with that analysis. Richard Windsor, chartered financial analyst and a blogger at Radio Free Mobile, posted Friday a counter-argument, saying Hirai's three-pronged strategy is "absolutely bang-on." But Windsor also noted that "the real question is how long does he have to realize that vision or will impatient shareholders sell the company out from underneath him?" Windsor described Hirai's vision as "to turn Sony from a lumbering conglomerate into an integrated ecosystem play with both hardware and software." He noted, "This is the right vision but it is incredibly difficult to execute and it will take a long time in the best instance." Windsor holds the view that with its assets from electronics to media, "Sony is the only Japanese company that has a chance being relevant in the digital ecosystem world." However, it is true that beyond the company's weak TV, imaging, and PC sales, Sony's second-quarter loss was mainly on its movie business, which posted an operating loss of 17.8 billion yen ($181 million) in the quarter, reversing from a profit of 7.9 billion yen ($80 million) a year earlier. Sony cited disappointing box office performance of some of its films. While Windsor brushed off the big loss in the movie business as "bad luck," Sony's movie and music businesses will come under scrutiny once again, as hedge-fund investor Daniel Loeb earlier this year called for a spinoff of the entertainment division through an initial public offering. As for Panasonic, it remains to be seen if its non-consumer electronics business -- automotive, battery, residential, industrial, and others -- will keep growing over the next few years. Radio Free Mobile's Windsor criticized Panasonic for "cost cutting its way into obscurity." He wrote: Panasonic is finished in the technology sector and while it may be profitable it will never see greatness again. This will give some short-term share price performance but in the longer run the company will drift sideways.