InfoAnda - Reshuffle at Japan's Sharp blunts expectation for change |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Car bomb kills 4 Iranian pilgrims before Iraq poll | | 6 March 2010
Higuain facing surgery for herniated disk | 2 December 2010
Sanyo's quarterly profit drops 67 percent | 5 November 2008

Wall Street ponders Apple without Steve Jobs | 19 January 2011

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Reshuffle at Japan's Sharp blunts expectation for change |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Afghan dies from burns after airfield drama mars Panetta visit | 3:35am EDT Jonah Hill seeks a dramatic career change 14 Mar 2012 Santorum to Puerto Rico: Speak English if you want statehood 14 Mar 2012 China removes top leadership contender Bo from post 2:14am EDT Citigroup failure in Fed test raises questions 14 Mar 2012 Discussed 178 U.S. serviceman detained in Afghanistan over civilian casualties 135 Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike 125 Sixteen Afghan civilians killed in rogue U.S. attack Watched Turkish soap operas ignite culture war in Middle East revolution – Decoder Thu, Mar 8 2012 Israeli army releases video of airstrike Sat, Mar 10 2012 Peruvian miners clash with police Wed, Mar 14 2012 Reshuffle at Japan's Sharp blunts expectation for change Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Japan's Sharp names new president as losses mount Wed, Mar 14 2012 AU Optronics convicted of U.S. LCD price fixing, to appeal Wed, Mar 14 2012 Elpida bankruptcy opens door for Samsung, Micron Tue, Feb 28 2012 New Panasonic chief to chase TV profit, not volume Tue, Feb 28 2012 Olympus risks foreign backlash with new board line-up Mon, Feb 27 2012 Analysis & Opinion Apple needs good, not just better, supply chain Japan quake anniversary shows lessons unlearned Related Topics Tech » Media » iPad » Workers prepare the booth for Sharp at the Consumer Electronics Show opening in Las Vegas January 9, 2012. The world's biggest technology trade show will feature razor-thin laptops, powerful new smartphones and fancy flat-screen TVs, but talk in the cavernous halls of the CES may focus on whether the show itself has a long-term future. Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking By Tim Kelly TOKYO, Japan | Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:01am EDT TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - An expected $3.5 billion record net loss as TV sales slumped is raising a red flag with investors worried that Sharp has fumbled its business strategy. Takashi Okuda's appointment as its new boss suggests it is not about to flinch and abandon making TVs. Okuda 58, who replaces Mikio Katayama as president on April 1, is a 30-year veteran. Much of his career has been spent in Sharps' TV business and in trying to expand sales to consumers overseas. At a press briefing on Wednesday to announce the management changes, he pledged to revamp Sharp's operations while "emulating" the course steered by Katayama. Katayama, who has run Sharp for five years and will remain influential as chairman, described his coming relationship with Okuda as a "three legged" race, suggesting the two will move in unison. For that reason analysts expect Okuda to make few major changes and for the company to stick to a model of making its own TVs and selling surplus liquid crystal panels to third parties. "Sharp shouldn't panic," said Shiro Mikoshiba, an analyst for Nomura Holdings. "I don't think Katayama's strategy was wrong." In February, Sharp forecast a record 290 billion yen loss for the year to the end of March. A slump in TV sales forced it to halve output at an LCD plant in western Japan, raising questions about its business model. Analysts agree on the problem at Sharp; it has two expensive LCD plants that are not being utilized enough because Sharp isn't selling enough of its Aquos-branded TVs either at home or overseas or is not finding customers to buy up enough of its surplus liquid crystal panels. In the three months to December 31, that forced the company to write off 33 billion yen of inventory. Its newest plant in Sakai, western Japan, built at a cost of more than $4 billion was operating at only 50 percent of capacity during the quarter. However, big TVs are selling well in the United States, which Sharp should exploit. "They don't have the competitive edge to focus only on components," Mikoshiba said. "Instead they can pour their efforts into 60-inch TVs and develop that market. Sharp has a unique model where it is its own customer, where it supplies itself with panels to make TVs, so it's a strategy that they can follow. In the long term I think it's the only path that Sharp can follow." Katayama suggested on Wednesday that the company's business strategy is right, despite the losses that are piling up. "It was not the case that we were moving in the wrong direction," he told reporters. "New methods will become necessary and I want to endeavor to improve the company with the new president." Okuda declined to give any details of what he plans, promising to reveal more in the coming weeks ahead of the company's full-year earnings announcement, which is likely to be released by the end of April. "We do not expect the management reshuffle to lead to a major change in strategy," the Goldman Sachs analyst Takashi Watanabe said in a report Thursday. Still, the losses are making investors nervous. Shares of Japan's biggest maker of liquid crystal displays have tumbled to their lowest in nearly three decades since last month, when it forecast a the record loss. Sharp closed up more than 4 percent Wednesday, on hopes a management shuffle would lead to a turnaround in the company's fortunes. On Thursday, its stock tumbled more than 5 percent as expectations of a change in direction evaporated. Sharp sells more than half its TVs in Japan. Its consumer electronics unit, which is mostly TVs, also generates about half its overall revenue, suggesting room to expand into overseas markets, some analysts suggested. Others said Sharp would be better off making fewer TVs while increasing sales of its screens to third parties, such as Apple. That would reduce a reliance on having to sell their own products, providing more certainty. It would also make them a bigger player among LCD suppliers by diverting more production from Sakae and other lines to third parties. "They have to be more of a component orientated maker rather than an end-product maker," said Yasuo Nakane, an analyst at Deutsche Securities in Tokyo. "If they just focus on their own component for their products they cannot fill the capacity, but if they expand their supply base into brands other than Sharp they have more chance," he said. Sharp already supplies to Apple, among other end users, although media reports say that the latest higher-definition iPad will not include its screens. It will instead use panels from Korean rivals, including LG Display. Okuda, who joined Sharp in 1978 and rose through the ranks to become head of the company's global business group, will have his work cut out for him to turnaround a company that turns 100 years old this year. At the end of December, Sharp's net debt-to-equity ratio was 1.03, six times the industry average and the highest among Japan's electronics firms, Thomson Reuters data shows. Losses last quarter erased about 180 billion yen in equity, prompting ratings agency Fitch to downgrade the outlook on its BBB- rating to negative, raising the possibility of a future cut to speculative grade. Its weakened financial standing has fed market speculation it would need equity financing to shore up its balance sheet. Underscoring the difficulties he faces in reining in costs, Japanese media reported that Sharp would ask workers to take a temporary freeze on pay increases. Okuda, however, won't be alone at the top of a struggling Japanese consumer electronics firm. Japanese peers Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp have also announced management changes. The three companies expect to post a combined loss of $17 billion this year, battered by tough competition from foreign rivals led by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, weak demand and a strong yen. ($1=82.67 yen) (Editing by Neil Fullick) Tech Media iPad Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Thursday, 15 March 2012
Russia may give NATO a base for Afghan supply runs |
Greece presses charges over alleged '08 plot against PM |
Splits rattle Mexican ruling party before election |
Condition of Bahrain hunger striker seen worsening |
ST-Ericsson readies revamp, soon a takeover target |
SEC charges SharesPost, Felix over Facebook offerings |
Demographics, local tastes fuel Arab video game industry |
Novelist Atwood's debt treatise makes leap to film |
Charlize Theron adopts baby boy |
Oscar organizers set 2013 awards for February 24 |
Afghan dies from burns after airfield drama mars Panetta visit |
Syria marks anniversary of uprising, violence grows |
U.S.-Korea free trade pact takes effect amid controversy |
China removes top leadership contender Bo from post |
Cyclone Lua strengthens, approaches NW Australia |
Exclusive: Japan's Ozawa warns PM against pushing sales tax hike |
Refloating Italy ship wreck costs more than EUR 100 million: Boskalis |
Swiss couple held by Pakistan Taliban released |
Condition of Bahrain hunger striker seen worsening |
Samsung loses bid to ban iPhone, iPad sales in Netherlands |
Cisco to buy NDS for $5 billion: Israeli report |
Reshuffle at Japan's Sharp blunts expectation for change |
Nokia working on own tablet: design chief |
China's new microblogging rules to make Weibo more attractive |
China Mobile Q4 growth mild; hopes pinned on iPhone tie-up |
Demandware IPO prices above expected price range |
Obama, Cartoon Network target bullying in documentary |
Jonah Hill seeks a dramatic career change |
HBO drama Luck axed after deaths of horses |
A Minute With: Susan Sarandon on new film, single life |
Hague prosecutor seeks 30 years for Congo warlord |
Analysis: France's Hollande could be secret reformer |
Built by forced labor, German bunkers become homes |
Payments system SWIFT to cut off Iranian banks |
Seventy-five to stand trial in Egypt over soccer deaths |
Exclusive: Nigeria starts mediated talks with Boko Haram |
Swiss couple escape from Pakistan Taliban captivity |
Italian, British police arrest terrorism suspects |
Apple's 4G iPad debuts in Australia; stock soars |
China Mobile says aims to add 30 million 3G users this year |
Betty White tops, Tyler Perry drops in celebrity poll |
Stars say Hunger Games movie violence justified |
Darth Vader quits the Empire after Goldman resignation |
Book Talk: Deceit and espionage in darkest Luxembourg |
Next star authors could be found online |
Matilda musical leads with 10 Olivier nominations |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01