electronics maker

For all the rumors and speculation about Dell's entry into the smartphone market in China, there's an unexplored angle: Why would Dell choose China as the entry point for a new wireless product line?

Dell has acknowledged that it is working with China Mobile, that country's largest mobile-phone carrier. The computer maker displayed a mini3i handset prototype at a China Mobile event in Beijing on Monday.

Despite advanced technology and years of dabbling in overseas markets, Japan's handset makers have little presence beyond the country's shores. They call the problem Galapagos syndrome.

At first glance, Japanese cell phones are a gadget lover's dream: ready for Internet and e-mail, they double as credit cards, boarding passes and even body-fat calculators.

But it is hard to find anyone in Chicago or London using a Japanese phone like a Panasonic, a Sharp or an NEC. Despite years of dabbling in overseas markets, Japan's handset makers have little presence beyond the country's shores.

In a move to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPod, Sony may develop a hybrid cell phone-video game handheld with the PlayStation Portable device at its core.

The Nikkei business daily on Saturday reported that the Japanese electronics maker is looking for ways to regain its dominance in the portable electronics market. Sony introduced the Walkman 30 years ago, but Apple has overtaken the entertainment company since the rise of the MP3 format. A PSP phone may be a competitive solution.

Panasonic has joined Sony in reporting a steep loss for its fiscal year. The Japanese electronics maker and world's largest plasma-TV maker lost 378.96 billion yen (US$3.99 billion) for the fiscal year ended in March. It was Panasonic's first loss in seven years.

The loss more than wiped out Panasonic's record profit of 281.9 billion yen (US$2.97 billion) posted in the year-ago period.

A Rough Year Ahead

Is "extreme shepherding" the latest craze out of Scotland or New Zealand? Making the rounds on YouTube these days is a goofy video of sheep covered with LED lights being herded around a hillside in the darkness. As the flock makes its way across the heath, viewed from afar the lights form and re-form into various shapes and ultimately bounce through fields like the old Pong video game.

Panasonic Corp. officials expressed hopes Tuesday that technology for three-dimensional images will allow it to charge more for gadgets that have been plunging in prices.

The technology is growing in popularity at movie theaters. The Japanese electronics maker hopes to bring the technology into homes globally with 3-D Blu-ray players and 3-D high-definition TVs by 2010. Rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. are also working on similar technology.

In a move to generate new revenue amid a slumping PC market, Dell is reportedly entering the smartphone market. It could launch its first device in February.

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported Dell has had a group of engineers working on the phones for more than a year and has produced prototypes built on Google's Android operating system and Microsoft's Windows Mobile software.

Sony on Thursday reported a 95 percent decline in profit for the fourth quarter of 2008. The electronics maker didn't get the sales boost it hoped for during the holiday shopping season as consumers turned to competing products.

The Japanese company said sales decreased 24.6 percent year over year as its electronics division sales plunged 29.3 percent in the wake of yen appreciation, the economic downturn, and intensified price competition.

Japan's fair trade watchdog on Thursday slapped Sharp Corp. with a 261 million yen ($3 million) fine for fixing prices of liquid crystal display panels used for Nintendo's popular DS portable game machines.

The Fair Trade Commission said Sharp and Hitachi Display Ltd., a unit of Hitachi Ltd., had violated the Anti-monopoly law by controlling prices. A commission official said the investigation began in December 2006. He declined to say why Hitachi Display got no penalty.

While the nation's top three automobile giants are trying to convince the government that they need a bailout, other businesses are doing what they can to stay afloat even if it means slashing thousands of positions.

Today, Sony joined the growing list of companies who have had to cut a percentage of their workforce to stay competitive. Sony announced Tuesday that it will slash 8,000 positions between now and March 2010 in its electronics business, cut operation costs, and cut inventory.