1 Articles for 'Sony'
- 2008/02/29 Is Sony showing cold shoulders to Samsung?
Sony announced it will "invest nearly $1bn in rival Sharp's newest liquid crystal display
factory in a bid to meet growing demand for flat-panel televisions and
diversify its supply chain".
Now, some Korean folks find this news a bit troubling, thinking this might be a signal that Sony is trying to keep some distance from its rival-cum-partner Samsung.
The thing is, Sony and Samsung had already co-invested billions of dollars in the LCD panel manufacturing joint-venture called S-LCD. Sony has been purchasing LCD panels mainly from S-LCD, and it was naturally expected Sony would make further investment in the joint venture in which the comany had already invested in over a billion dollars. But instead of S-LCD, Sony invested in Sharp - which, to Korea's provincial government, means bilions of dollars of lost FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) opportunity.
To me, Sony's move seems a purely business decision, rather than anything of a nationalistic nature. But some Korean media also expresses concerns that the Japanese electronics giants might be joining forces together (there have been lots of M&A activities in the Japanese electronics industry lately) to seek edge over their Korean rivlas - namely Samsung and LG - amid Samsung's recent difficulties with corruption investigation.
I don't know if Japanese electronics giants are indeed on to gaining turf lost to Korean rivals. I don't know who will eventually come out as a winner in this fierce battle taking place in the global consumer electronics market. But what I do know is that I don't want to be in consumer electronics business. I want to be in iPod business, which not many Korean or Japanese companies seem to be in now.
Now, some Korean folks find this news a bit troubling, thinking this might be a signal that Sony is trying to keep some distance from its rival-cum-partner Samsung.
The thing is, Sony and Samsung had already co-invested billions of dollars in the LCD panel manufacturing joint-venture called S-LCD. Sony has been purchasing LCD panels mainly from S-LCD, and it was naturally expected Sony would make further investment in the joint venture in which the comany had already invested in over a billion dollars. But instead of S-LCD, Sony invested in Sharp - which, to Korea's provincial government, means bilions of dollars of lost FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) opportunity.
To me, Sony's move seems a purely business decision, rather than anything of a nationalistic nature. But some Korean media also expresses concerns that the Japanese electronics giants might be joining forces together (there have been lots of M&A activities in the Japanese electronics industry lately) to seek edge over their Korean rivlas - namely Samsung and LG - amid Samsung's recent difficulties with corruption investigation.
I don't know if Japanese electronics giants are indeed on to gaining turf lost to Korean rivals. I don't know who will eventually come out as a winner in this fierce battle taking place in the global consumer electronics market. But what I do know is that I don't want to be in consumer electronics business. I want to be in iPod business, which not many Korean or Japanese companies seem to be in now.
A Sony LCD TV
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