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Hardware Sanyo to Cut Up to 1,000 Jobs Before Panasonic Takeover
Stephen Kamizuru (Blog) - January 6, 2009 10:45 AM

8 comment(s) - last by GreenEnvt.. on Jan 6 at 4:02 PM

Sanyo to be restructured before Panasonic Purchase

Sanyo Electric Co. plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs in the lead up to its purchase by Panasonic. Panasonic stated last month it would acquire Sanyo Electric for up to $9 billion.

The Nikkei Newspaper Daily reports that out of 20,000 regular employees in Japan, Sanyo is planning to cut 500 individuals primarily from the semiconductor division. Several hundred people from the semiconductor division will be cut under an early retirement program. Total layoffs including temporary workers, is expected to reach about 1,000 people.

Sanyo Electric has seven semiconductor plants overseas in countries such as China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The company plans to reduce the number to two.

A company spokeswoman vaguely stated changes are coming but did not elaborate with specific details, "As we have announced with Panasonic, we must pursue structural reform. But at this point in time, no firm decision has been made."

The significance of the Panasonic takeover is it is the first major restructuring of Japan's electronics industry since the start of the global economic crisis. The crisis has caused many companies to suffer financially and Sanyo Electric is no exception.

Initially, Sanyo Electric booked a group operating loss of 2.8 billion Yen ($30 million USD) in its semiconductor business for the year up to March 2008. By September 2008 the loss had grown to 5.8 billion Yen. In comparison Sanyo had an operating profit of 1.5 billion Yen only a year earlier.

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how does a merger reinforce a global economic crisis?

By Dreifort on 1/6/2009 10:59:30 AM , Rating: 1

when companies were merging/buying out ea other in the late 90s (and therefore laying off ppl) no one complained of global economic crisis? Some companies were good buys, some were not.

now when a business aquisition occurs, it's "oh no! jobs to be loss!"

wth!? When I lost my job in the 90s due to a company merger I didn't hear about any economic crisis? I understand there are fewer jobs avaiable now than back then - but job layoffs happen in mergers/takeovers regardless if the world/national economy is in a crisis or not.

This is actually good news for panasonic. But article paints it as bad news for Sanyo.

RE: how does a merger reinforce a global economic crisis?

By amanojaku on 1/6/2009 11:21:08 AM , Rating: 2

The economy is largely belief driven: if people believe the economy is strong then the things that happen are perceived as positive and people act accordingly (investing, buying, etc...) On the other hand, if people believe the economy is weak then the things that happen are negative.

In the 90s it was assumed that an acquisition or merger meant the growth of a large organization into a larger, more capable organization. Even if you lost your job (which was rarer then considering corporate growth) you could land another within a month without trying too hard. Today, acquisitions and mergers are the results of businesses taking advantage of each others' weaknesses and instabilities. The result is an organization that may be more shaky than the sum of its parts, even after drastic layoffs.

This isn't bad news for Sanyo or for Panasonic; this is bad news for the 1000 people who lost their jobs and the resulting economic ripple effect. They likely won't be getting those jobs back in a month.

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RE: how does a merger reinforce a global economic crisis?

By Dreifort on 1/6/2009 11:41:23 AM , Rating: 3

no one ever seems to tie together the fact that the world's population is growing at a faster rate.

50 yrs ago there were few ppl and more jobs to be had. But population has grown at a rate that exceeds buyers needs.

If families are populating faster and faster...there will never be enough jobs and unemployment will get higher and higher.

Whose fault will it be then? The US President for not doing something about ppl having kids?

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RE: how does a merger reinforce a global economic crisis?

By amanojaku on 1/6/2009 11:56:33 AM , Rating: 1

I agree that the population is partly to blame, and I believe in population control. Through education, and not through other means. It has yet to be proven that curbing the population will have any immediate or long term effects on the economy, so the president should limit his or her efforts to providing the public with relevant facts.

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So what about the brand name

By Smartless on 1/6/2009 1:57:59 PM , Rating: 2

Not that I've been a big fan of the brand name. Does Sanyo disappear?

RE: So what about the brand name

By The0ne on 1/6/2009 3:32:07 PM , Rating: 2

This is the semiconductor side. You're referring to TV's and such I assume where the brand is consider on the low end. Having said that I'm sure the loss would propagate to their other areas as well.

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RE: So what about the brand name

By cheetah2k on 1/6/2009 3:52:37 PM , Rating: 2

The job cuts are certainly from the semiconductor side, but the Panasonic takeover is for the whole company, which includes their semiconductor outfit.

* * * *

For me in a nutshell, I'm a bit sad by all of this. As an avid home movie buff, I've always bought Sanyo Projectors, and my last purchase was the PLV-Z2000 HD projector 8 months ago. At this level, Panasonic has been Sanyo's direct competitor in "best bang for your buck" in the Projector industry (their AE2000 HD projector), and now the two companies will be merged. With less competition in this arena, I can only see a stagnation in inovative projector technology (such as Sanyo's magnificant 'lens shift' technology)...

Layoffs or not, it is indeed, a sad day for home cinema enthuisasts (such as myself) wanting great value audio/visual equipment :-(

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