It has taken Japan’s electronics giants just five years to wipe out the profits of nearly two decades. If Panasonic, Sharp and Sony have their sums right – and that is a big if – the combined Y3.7tn ($46bn) they will have lost by the end of this financial year is equivalent to their profits from the previous 18, according to Capital IQ data. Their plight has led Sharp to admit that there is “material doubt” over its survival and Panasonic to introduce more writedowns and restructurings. Sony alone is clinging to profit hopes this year. Being the best of a bunch this bad does not say much.
日本電子巨頭們僅用短短五年，就抹掉了過去近20年的利潤。根據Capital IQ的數據，如果松下(Panasonic)，夏普(Sharp)和索尼(Sony)沒算錯的話（這是一個很大的“如果”），他們到本財年底合計將虧損37萬億日元（合460億美元），相當于此前18年的利潤總和。他們所處的困境已令夏普承認，其能否生存面臨“實質性疑問”，而松下將實行更多資產減記和重組。唯有索尼今年還有望盈利。但在如此糟糕的一群中做到最好并不能說明什么。