TOKYO--The year-end products are launched, and now Japan's electronics companies are hoping for a profitable end to 2005.
There's little doubt that sales will go well--products such as high-definition digital TVs, hard-disk video recorders, and digital music players are all the rage--but profitability is another question. The fierce competition now taking place in electronics is causing companies to cut prices faster than they otherwise would, and that's cutting into profits.
You don't need to look far to see evidence: Both Sanyo Electric and Pioneer have changed their senior management and are embarking on restructuring efforts intended to bring themselves back into profitability, while other companies, such as Sony, are having a hard time making money on such core products as televisions.
Over lunch earlier in December, the president of a Japanese electronics maker talked about the growing impact of low-cost products imported from neighboring countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. He was worried about the ability of Japanese companies to keep up with such imports. In particular, he referred to a Taiwanese-made 32-inch LCD TV that had just gone on sale online for $827. That price for that size of screen was unimaginable just a few months ago, he said.
Of course, the television in question lacks many of the bells and whistles offered by more expensive models from local brand-name manufacturers, but how much more are consumers willing to pay for those features?
While the companies suffer, there's good news for the average salary worker. Year-end bonuses are averaging $6930 this year, according to a survey conducted by a local business newspaper. That's up 3.5 percent, so it means more money to spend and cheaper products on display. Here's a sampling.
NTT DoCoMo Kids Safety Phone
It's a sad fact that Japan isn't as safe as it used to be. Abductions and murders of children are occurring with alarming frequency, and parents are worried about the safety of their kids while away from home. NTT DoCoMo is addressing these concerns with a new phone and tracking service.
The basic service allows parents to find out the location of their child's cell phone and, presumably, the location of the child. It works with any 3G phone on DoCoMo's network. The carrier is also releasing a new handset, the SA800i, that goes a step further. It has a panic alarm that, when activated, will automatically call as many as three preregistered numbers with a voice message.
It has also been child-proofed: The phone will keep switching itself on and reporting its position even if the child switches it off, and a tool is required to remove the battery, so it can't be disabled that way. The phone is scheduled to go on sale in March in Japan, and the price is not yet set.
Sharp W-Zero3
The personal digital assistant market has been looking a little shaky recently. This is especially true in Japan, where PDAs never really caught on, so it came as a bit of a surprise to see Sharp unveil its W-Zero3 PDA with local carrier Willcom.
The gadget is based on Windows Mobile 5.0 and has a 3.7-inch VGA (640-by-480-pixel) screen with a full Web browser. There's also built-in Wi-Fi and support for Willcom's Personal Handyphone System network. Add in regular voice telephony over PHS, support for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files, and it has people excited.
On a recent chilly winter morning here, about 100 people even queued up at an electronics store to put their names on a reservation list for the PDA's December 14 launch. It costs about $332 and is available in Japan only.
JVC MiniDisc Player
The latest MiniDisc player from Victor of Japan has something to be proud about. The compact XM-C37 player can manage up to 55 hours of playback or 105 hours in long-play mode. Ha! Take that, IPod, or any other MP3 player with your puny 10- or 20-hour battery life! And when the battery does eventually run down, things aren't so bad: A 20-minute recharge will provide enough power for a further 15 hours of play!
The device is scheduled to ship in Japan in February, and will cost about $166. Overseas sales plans have not been announced.
Toshiba Gigabeat P-Series
Toshiba continues to challenge Apple's IPod with its Gigabeat models of digital music players. The newest are the P5 and P10 players, which combine a bright, 1.1-inch OLED display with distinctive design and enough space for several hundred songs.
The P5 has a capacity of 512MB and the P10 can hold 1GB. Also included are a voice recorder and an FM tuner, and the players are compatible with Windows Media Audio, MP3, and WAV files.
The interface language can be switched between English and Japanese. Both are due to be released in Japan in December. The P5 will be priced at $115 and the P10 at $149. There's no word on international sales.
Seiko Spectrum Watch
Seiko Watch is claiming a "world's first" technology coup with a new wristwatch it plans to put on sale soon. The SVRD001 watch incorporates a flexible display, so it curves with the shape of the watch around your wrist. Such displays are just beginning to appear in products, so while this may be the first it's unlikely to be the last.
If you want one, you'd better hurry to order: Seiko is making just 500 of the watches, of which 300 will be available outside of Japan. You'd also better get saving. The watch will cost $2175 in Japan, which is almost as impressive as that flexible display.
NEC Hard-Disk-Free Laptop
So, it's not exactly going to impress your friends, but a new laptop from NEC aimed at business users is notable for what it's lacking: a hard-disk drive. The PC Parafield has been developed as a replacement for existing thin-client systems and combines high data security--all your important data is stored on a network server or USB memory stick--with the capability to be used anywhere.
Software is stored in ROM, so it can be used without a network connection. It has 3GB of ROM space for the operating system and other software and 512MB of main memory. Aside from these changes, everything else in the machine is standard. The computer is available immediately in Japan for $3742. At present, there are no plans to sell it overseas.
Toshiba Terabyte HDD Recorder
First it was Hitachi and now Toshiba is out of the gate with a 1-terabyte video recorder. The impressive amount of storage space has been fitted to the RD-T1 with HDTV in mind, and that means it can record up to 130 hours in HDTV mode. Right now it's just about the best solution for recording HDTV at original resolution, as HD-DVD recorders aren't yet available and the few Blu-ray Disc recorders on the market aren't entirely compatible with future versions of the format.
Other features include a High-Definition Multimedia Interface, Internet connectivity to download TV schedules and program guides, and an up-converter to make DVD and other standard-definition images look better on an HDTV. It goes on sale in Japan in late December and will cost $1890. Toshiba has no plans to sell it overseas.
R&D Corner: NEC Flexible Battery
Engineers at Japan's NEC have developed a flexible battery, less than a millimeter thick, that can be charged in half a minute. The battery has been designed for use in applications such as active radio frequency identification cards and could provide enough power to keep such cards running for several weeks before requiring a recharge.
The company demonstrated it inside a credit-card-type card. Not only is it long-lasting, but it can be recharged quickly--reaching about 80 percent of its capacity in about 30 seconds. NEC said it has no current plans for commercial production of the device or an estimate of how much it will cost if production begins.
Martyn Williams is Tokyo bureau chief for the IDG News Service, a consortium of IDG publications.
Ad Choices