Sharp posts record losses as Japan TV makers hammered

Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp warned it might not be able to survive on its own, as it almost doubled its full-year net loss forecast to US$5.6 billion, and said it was considering alliances with other companies.

“Our corporate group has booked massive second-quarter net and operating losses ... and now see a serious negative operating cash flow. This raises serious doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Bigger Japanese rival Sony, which blazed a trail in the early 1980s with its Walkman portable music players, made a small operating profit in July-September and kept its forecast for a full-year profit of US$1.63 billion.

But the maker of Bravia TVs, Vaio laptops and PlayStation game consoles said it expects to sell fewer of its hand-held PSP and Vita consoles this year – 10 million – than it previously estimated. It also cut its forecasts for sales of its TV sets – to 14.5 million – and compact digital cameras - to 16 million - but kept its PlayStation home console sales estimate at 16 million.

The grim tale from brands that led a consumer electronics age from the 1970s came a day after Panasonic said it will lose almost US$10 billion this business year as it cleans its house of risky assets – writing down billions of dollars of goodwill and assets in its mobile and energy units and preparing for more restructuring that is likely to see it shift away from money-losing TVs and other consumer electronics.

The maker of Viera brand TVs, which has shed around 36,000 jobs, also skipped its dividend for the first time in more than six decades and cut its full-year TV sales forecast by more than a quarter to 9 million sets. Panasonic shares slumped by nearly a fifth on Thursday, wiping US$3 billion off its market value.