Fitch cuts Sony, Panasonic debt ratings to "junk" status

TOKYO Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:22am EST

1 of 2. A Sony logo is seen as customers look at Sony digital cameras at an electronics shop in Tokyo, in this May 10, 2012 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files

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Comments (2)
speculatrix wrote:
Sony have coasted for five years or more now. Their TVs used to set the benchmark standard are now very poor value. The playstation Vita, whilst good, was quite late. The Playstation3 hasn’t seen much compelling new content. Their cameras have been respectable but not capturing a huge market share. Their phones, having bought out Ericsson, are respectable but Sony haven’t had the mind share of Samsung, Apple or HTC.

Panasonic have mostly maintained their quality but I imagine margins are very thin. Their Lumix cameras are well regarded but don’t have the same mind share as Canon or Nikon, although they are working hard to change that with recent new models (the G5 and GH3 settings new standards). They’ve faltered in their attempts at mobile phones and abandoned their recent new model. They don’t have the studios or content factories like Sony, which means they live or die by their hardware sales, as they don’t have a “platform” like Apple or Sony.

Nov 22, 2012 3:50pm EST  --  Report as abuse
VonHell wrote:
i remember that some years ago sony used to say with a PS3 no one would need a PC…
PS3 is like a modest PC for gamers today… but what failed was that idea of transform the console in something more… develop a multi platform OS or even integrate the software of the several hardware they have… Vita is more like an old smartphone in terms of hardware… those MP3 players, some looking like smartphones, only sell in Japan…
The japanese dont have superior hardware for quite some time now…

The yen valorized a lot because US QE and deflation is only compensating for that…
without deflation Japan would not be able to stop the cheap imports to come in… come on, one laptop used to cost 50-100% more than in US, 1-1.5 years ago…
What QE revealed was that japanese companies were not globalized in the true sense… not in the same tone than the rest of the world consumers… making things to the japanese taste… depending much of the japanese market…
But lucky them i believe that the debt is owned by japanese banks… like the gov debt… and they are safe for a while…
Printing money like crazy now would only accelerate the exit of medium and small companies and the rich transfering their money out… may increase the profits for a while, but that is all…
When the yen rised from 120 to 80 a dollar, the japanese GDP was 5tri dollars and did not raised as it should… because the economy contracted… i doubt the GDP will stay in 5tri if the yen falls back to 120…

Nov 22, 2012 10:52pm EST  --  Report as abuse