Japan's
foreign direct investment in the consumer electronics industry was motivated by
protectionism and
labor costs, encouraging foreign capital to invest in a country with lower production overhead and prewar industrial know-how to be competitive in the electronics market. After three years of voluntary export restraints, seven Japanese firms located plants in the United States by 1980. Japanese firms continued production of the most technologically advanced products, especially in Japan but also the U.S., while shifting production of less-advanced products to developing countries in Southeast Asia. Circa 1997, Japanese children had a relatively large amount of savings, with the average having about 110,000
Japanese yen (about $900
U.S. dollars) in allowances, which stimulated purchases of electronic goods like
Tamagotchi.
1950s This decade marked the beginning of the Japanese semiconductor industry, which was driven by relationships established with the United States. The Japanese firms
Kobe Kogyo and
Sony were at the forefront of this exchange of ideas, working with the
RCA and
Western Electric, respectively.
Kobe Kogyo Kobe Kogyo, later acquired by
Fujitsu, became the first company to manufacture and sell
transistors in Japan, on the basis of a technology assistance contract signed by Kobe Kogyo president Takao on June 25, 1951. This know-how contract, which granted manufacturing instructions, equipment, and personnel, were exchanged along with a 3% royalty. Tetsuya Arizumi, the Senior Manager of the vacuum tube department at the time, visited RCA's laboratory and factories to initiate a transistor research and development project. As a result of this success, Takao agreed to expand their contract with RCA to include "all products in the field of weak electricity," including
vacuum tubes,
radio,
television, and transistors. In the same year, Kobe Kogyo became the first Japanese company to commercially produce the
solid-state electronic device, and begun making
point contact and
alloy-junction transistors with the help of RCA's manufacturing technology from the contract. By the end of the decade, Kobe Kogyo sold over $3 million worth of semiconductor devices around the world. The release of the TR-55 allowed for more compact and portable devices, distinguishing Sony in the consumer electronics market.
The Role of Japanese Electronics in the Global Automotive Industry Even though there have been many challenges for the Japanese electronics industry, Japanese companies like
Renesas Electronics,
Sony, and even
Panasonic remain important in automotive technology.
21st century in
Tokyo Since the beginning of the 21st century, several of the largest Japanese electronics companies have struggled financially and lost market share, particularly to South Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese companies. Japanese companies have lost their dominant position in categories including portable media players, TVs, computers, and semiconductors. Affected by the
2008 financial crisis, Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Sharp, NEC, and Toshiba reported losses amounting to $17 billion. The relative decline has been ascribed to factors including high costs, the value of the yen and too many Japanese companies producing the same class of products, causing duplication in research and development efforts and reducing
economies of scale and pricing power. Japan's education system has also been highlighted as a possible contributing factor. The lack of adaptation to the
Digital Revolution and the shift from hardware to software-oriented product development has also been cited. One response to the challenges has been a rise in company mergers and acquisitions. JVC and Kenwood merged (forming
JVCKenwood), and Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics -the semiconductors arm of NEC- to merge forming
Renesas Electronics. As of 2013, most Japanese companies no longer enjoy the same reputation they did about one to two decades ago. Currently, the international electronics consumer market is a competition between
Japanese,
South Korean,
Chinese,
Taiwanese, and American industries. Quite a few Japanese companies still have significant international market share. The future of the Japanese electronics industry is debated.
Manufacturers The following electronics industry have marketed and sold within Japan: Japanese •
Akai •
Brother •
Canon •
Casio •
Citizen •
Fujifilm •
Fujitsu •
Hitachi •
JVCKenwood •
Konica Minolta •
Kyocera •
Mitsubishi Electric •
NEC •
Nikon •
Nintendo •
Olympus •
Onkyo •
Panasonic •
Pioneer •
Ricoh •
Seiko Group •
Sharp •
Sony •
TDK •
Toshiba •
Yamaha Non-Japanese •
Acer •
Apple •
AOC •
Asus •
BlackBerry Limited •
BOE •
Bose Corporation •
Changhong •
Dell •
DJI •
Element Electronics •
Emerson Radio •
Haier •
Harman •
Hisense •
HP •
HTC •
Huawei •
Konka •
Lenovo •
LG •
Magnavox •
Meizu •
OPPO •
Panda Electronics •
Philips •
Razer •
Samsung •
Skyworth •
Sonos •
TCL •
ViewSonic •
Vizio •
Westinghouse •
Xiaomi •
ZTE ==See also==