Secrets Behind Japan's Economic Recovery

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The Xiaobian of the network tells us the secret behind the Japanese economic recovery: the stripping of consumer goods business.

During the Japanese bubble economy in 1980s, the global view of Japanese enterprises changed.

Consumer electronics brands and auto companies such as SONY, Nintendo (Nintendo Co.) and Panasonic (Panasonic Corp.) have become leaders in economic growth and become symbols of Japan's rise overseas.

By 1986, the share of durable consumer goods in Japan's exports rose to 30%.

Precision equipment and steel such as automobiles, office supplies, tape recorders and cameras are in the forefront of Japanese export products.

But by 2013, the proportion of durable consumer goods to exports dropped to 16%.

Cars are still Japan's main export products.

But they are followed by steel, electronics, auto parts and organic chemicals.

Like SONY, some other consumer company have also declined.

Nintendo's sales fell 44% in the past three fiscal years, down from the fiscal year ending March 1999.

A spokesman attributed it to the turbulence in the gaming industry rather than the downturn associated with consumers.

In terms of final consumer goods, Japan's trade deficit in 2012 was US $52 billion, and in 2007 it was US $25 billion in trade surplus.

By contrast, Japan's trade surplus in various parts of the manufacturing industry expanded from $116 billion to $137 billion.

Kathy Matsui, chief stock strategist at Goldman Sachs in Japan, said that because Japan has clearly lost its competitive edge in consumer electronics, it is reasonable to shift upstream to the value chain and focus on high-end materials and high value components.

The Nikkei index also reflects the decline of the Japanese yen, which has made Japanese exports cheaper in dollar terms and increased the value of overseas sales in yen terms.

This situation has boosted many parts suppliers, and manufacturers of spare parts tend to produce more in Japan than manufacturers.

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The giants are returning to simplicity, reflecting the general trend of returning from consumer products.

Shortly after the war, Hitachi (Hitachi Ltd.), Toshiba (Toshiba Corp.) and Nec Corp (NEC Corp.) grew by exporting industrial products such as locomotives, gas turbines and telecommunications equipment.

By the 80s of last century, they had caught up with the trend of consumer goods and shifted their energies to producing televisions, household appliances, and later producing smartphones.

These companies paid the price.

Rivals such as Korea and China eventually compete at lower prices.

Smartphones produced by Japanese companies are usually designed specifically for the Japanese market and have never been successful overseas.

Today, the three companies have divested many consumer businesses, focusing on heavy machinery, industrial electronics and satellites.

Hitachi accumulated a deficit of 985 billion yen in the four fiscal year ended March 2010, and achieved a cumulative net profit of 1 trillion and 30 billion yen in four years thereafter.

Toshiba and Nec Corp also experienced similar ups and downs, but only slightly.

Hitachi did not respond to inquiries from reporters.

Toshiba Hisao Tanaka told analysts in May this year that the company intends to accelerate the pformation of its business to business model in May.

A spokesman for NEC said the company is obviously developing towards infrastructure investment.

The change in Matsushita is of particular concern.

For the most part of the past 96 years, Panasonic is a consumer electronics manufacturer, but the company has abandoned the consumer smartphone market and has stopped producing plasma screen televisions, and has also slashed the production of cameras.

The company said it thought the opportunities for auto parts and housing were bigger.

Matsushita is the main manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries. The company has agreed to invest in a $5 billion battery manufacturing plant in Nevada with a joint venture with Tesla Motors Inc..

In the latest fiscal year, net profit was 120 billion yen, after a loss of 754 billion yen in the fiscal year.

When asked about the company's changes, Panasonic referred to the public speech delivered by Tsuka Chihiro, the company's president, in April this year. He said at the time that Panasonic's strategic pformation was progressing smoothly in April.