Bloomberg (October 10)
“Sony, Sharp and Panasonic now have a combined market capitalization of about $29 billion, compared with Sony’s peak valuation of about $120 billion in 1999. Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s market capitalization is $596 billion and Samsung’s is $175 billion.” Japan’s electronics makers seem to be following in the footsteps of Detroit’s automakers. They haven’t kept up with changing markets and are being left behind with higher costs and shrinking market share. “Having the most-advanced technology—once a key strength of Japanese manufacturers—matters less as consumers increasingly pay attention to content, apps and user-friendliness rather than hardware specifications.”
Bloomberg (June 2)
Another one bites the dust. By yearend, Ford will end its Mercury brand. Sales of the 77-year old brand peaked in 1978 at 579,498, but fell to 92,299 in 2009. Mercury joins other departed Detroit brands including Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile and Plymouth. Going forward, Ford will focus on its namesake Ford brand and high-end Lincoln brand. The only U.S. automaker not to accept money from the government’s TARP program, Ford earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and expects to be solidly profitable in 2010.
