When a 100 year old Japanese giant puts out a statement saying that it has "material doubts" about it's ability to survive one is reminded of the Emperor Hirohito telling his countrymen to endure the unendurable ...
We have long been loyal to that Emperor of Panel techology that is the Sharps Corporation, alas it would appear that from their lofty heights of world domination in flat panels and solar technology in 2007 they have been unable to maintain production price competitiveness in their Japanese factories through the Great Financial Crisis, Tsunami, and the huge manufacturing migration to outsourcing in China.
They are not alone in this, the great mass extinction of Television brands in 2009 left Sharp, Sony, and Panasonic the last Japanese purveyors standing in this flatscreen market place. However like monstrous Sumos of manufacturing it appears that they have not been agile on their marketplace feet enough to survive that onslaught of derivative Chinese and Korean product and still make a profit.
Sharp News Google 2nd Nov 2012
It seems to me that Japanese TV may well be about to go the way of Detroit and Birmingham. Very Sad.
Opinions