Mike Mercury
03-15-2011, 9:56am
Japan Earthquake Halts CE Production
As Japanese authorities and relief workers continue to search for victims of the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the country’s vibrant consumer electronics industry March 14 has all but ground to a halt.
Sony Electronics, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Panasonic shuttered numerous manufacturing facilities in regions near the quake, with other companies assessing further operations on a day-by-day basis.
Japan’s largest CE manufacturer — Sony — stopped production in 10 plants (including Blu-ray Disc facilities) and two research facilities due to damage. Toshiba shuttered five plants.
As would be expected, manufacturing facilities located in proximity to Sendai, the largest city from the quake’s epicenter, suffered the most damage with cellular phone service completely out in the region.
Separately, Warner’s Japanese unit pulled the theatrical release of Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, starring Matt Damon, Cecile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard, citing the film’s graphic tsunami scenes as “not appropriate” following the disaster.
Australian executives with Toshiba reportedly canceled a March 14 trip to Japan intended to finalize details on the company’s new 10.1-inch Folio tablet — set to launch in May.
Jim Handy, an analyst with Objective Analysis in Los Gatos, Calif., said the quake/tsunami and ongoing concerns regarding radiation leaks near affected nuclear power plants could easily halt CE production at least two weeks, resulting in higher retail prices.
“It doesn’t take a large production decrease to cause prices to increase dramatically,” Handy told ChannelNews.com.
Separately, Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, saw its shares plummet to their lowest level since 2008 after the company announced it would shutter all 12 of its plants until March 16.
“It’s panic selling,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, a market analyst at Cosmo Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. “No one knows the complete picture yet on how big the damage will be from the earthquake.”
http://polish-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/japanese-girl.jpg
No NFC in Next iPhone
Apple, which has been rumored to include Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology in a future iPhone device, has chosen not to feature it in the next version of the device, the British newspaper The Independent reported Monday.
The report cited British mobile operators who have met with Apple about the next iPhone, which is expected to arrive later this year. Apple told the operators that it chose not to move forward due to the lack of a worldwide standard for the technology.
http://gotowallpapers.com/wallpapers/allimg/c100501/12HF5T30F-42ba.jpg
Microsoft Kills Zune Player
Microsoft is discontinuing its Zune brand of media players, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing a "person familiar with the decision."
The company will still sell existing Zune players and use Zune software in other hardware, but not make any more new ones.
The most recent generation of the device came out in the fall of 2009, although aspects of its software have been incorporated into both the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.
The Zune debuted in 2006, as a competitor to Apple's iPod.
http://www.soundtaxi.us/img/girl_ipod6sm.gif
As Japanese authorities and relief workers continue to search for victims of the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the country’s vibrant consumer electronics industry March 14 has all but ground to a halt.
Sony Electronics, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Panasonic shuttered numerous manufacturing facilities in regions near the quake, with other companies assessing further operations on a day-by-day basis.
Japan’s largest CE manufacturer — Sony — stopped production in 10 plants (including Blu-ray Disc facilities) and two research facilities due to damage. Toshiba shuttered five plants.
As would be expected, manufacturing facilities located in proximity to Sendai, the largest city from the quake’s epicenter, suffered the most damage with cellular phone service completely out in the region.
Separately, Warner’s Japanese unit pulled the theatrical release of Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, starring Matt Damon, Cecile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard, citing the film’s graphic tsunami scenes as “not appropriate” following the disaster.
Australian executives with Toshiba reportedly canceled a March 14 trip to Japan intended to finalize details on the company’s new 10.1-inch Folio tablet — set to launch in May.
Jim Handy, an analyst with Objective Analysis in Los Gatos, Calif., said the quake/tsunami and ongoing concerns regarding radiation leaks near affected nuclear power plants could easily halt CE production at least two weeks, resulting in higher retail prices.
“It doesn’t take a large production decrease to cause prices to increase dramatically,” Handy told ChannelNews.com.
Separately, Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, saw its shares plummet to their lowest level since 2008 after the company announced it would shutter all 12 of its plants until March 16.
“It’s panic selling,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, a market analyst at Cosmo Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. “No one knows the complete picture yet on how big the damage will be from the earthquake.”
http://polish-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/japanese-girl.jpg
No NFC in Next iPhone
Apple, which has been rumored to include Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology in a future iPhone device, has chosen not to feature it in the next version of the device, the British newspaper The Independent reported Monday.
The report cited British mobile operators who have met with Apple about the next iPhone, which is expected to arrive later this year. Apple told the operators that it chose not to move forward due to the lack of a worldwide standard for the technology.
http://gotowallpapers.com/wallpapers/allimg/c100501/12HF5T30F-42ba.jpg
Microsoft Kills Zune Player
Microsoft is discontinuing its Zune brand of media players, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing a "person familiar with the decision."
The company will still sell existing Zune players and use Zune software in other hardware, but not make any more new ones.
The most recent generation of the device came out in the fall of 2009, although aspects of its software have been incorporated into both the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.
The Zune debuted in 2006, as a competitor to Apple's iPod.
http://www.soundtaxi.us/img/girl_ipod6sm.gif