Panasonic Revives as Other Japanese Tech Giants Falter

Pulling away from smartphones and TV panels helps it stem losses

Panasonic automotive applications at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las VegasPhotograph by Al Powers/Invision for Panasonic via AP Photo

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By Bruce Einhorn and Mariko Yasu and Takashi Amano

February 14, 2014 at 2:06 AM UTC

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This article is part of the February 17, 2014 issue of businessweek.

These are trying times for the men running Japan’s electronics giants. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is taking a 50 percent pay cut after the company forecast a surprise 25 billion-yen ($244 million) loss last month. Kazuo Hirai took the helm at Sony two years ago promising to stem a decade of losses at the television unit. On Feb. 6 the company announced it expects to lose $1.1 billion in the current fiscal year ending March 31.

Like many Japanese consumer electronics companies, Panasonic has tried to be all things to all customers, making everything from smartphones to solar panels. And like its domestic rivals, it faces competition from lower-cost manufacturers in South Korea and China. Panasonic lost a combined 1.5 trillion yen in the two years ended in March 2013.