Samsung no longer selling flat panels, other wares in Japan

Yeah, we're still scratchin' our noggins too, but even after we rubbed our eyes and adjusted the bifocals, it still looks as if the AP is reporting that Samsung will stop selling flat panel televisions and "other consumer products" in Japan. Hot on the heels of Hitachi pulling the plug on RPTVs on this side of the pond, Samsung is citing "poor profitability" as the reasoning behind its dramatic move, and it noted that LCD TVs, DVD players, DAPs and "other items" would no longer be sold to individuals in the Land of the Rising Sun. It was, however, stated that the outfit would continue selling flat screen computer monitors directly to businesses along with memory chips, LCDs and mobile phones to Softbank, but considering that last year less than one-percent of the firm's total sales in the country were made up of consumer electronics sales, we guess it's a little easier to wrap our head around the decision. Nevertheless, there's no reason for us to think that Sammy will be pulling back the reins in any other regions of the world, but it'll be quite strange in Tokyo with no signs of Sammy in the CE realm.

[HineyWipe @ Nov 9th 2007 9:30AM]

Maybe this is a South Korean thing. I mean, SONY and Matsushita are the dominant players in the Japanese market, no?

[Joe Bar @ Nov 9th 2007 2:38PM]

The real reason is lack of martket penetration. You ask anyone over here about Samsung and all you'll get is a blank stare. I tried to find a toner cartridge for my Samsung laser printer and couldn't find it anywhere near Tokyo, and I had lots of Japanese techies looking too. Samsung's problem isn't racial, or it shouldn't be, they need to just ensure their products are available in Japan, they'd sell.

[Justin @ Nov 9th 2007 9:35AM]

Pulling back the reins.

FIFY.

[Eric @ Nov 9th 2007 9:37AM]

I guess you are scratching your head because you do not understand the relationship between Japan and Korea. Most Japanese people I know can't stand Korea, to put it nicely, for historical reasons.

[joe23521 @ Nov 9th 2007 9:49AM]

I thought it was the other way around. The same way the Chinese can't stand Japan, for historical reasons.

[david @ Nov 9th 2007 10:08AM]

Agreed. I believe it's that the Koreans (and Chinese) who dislike the Japanese for historical reasons. Although that is probably less so with the younger generation.

[Sean @ Nov 9th 2007 10:52AM]

Actually he is somewhat right, but it's not hatred the Japanese feel...
The Japanese view Koreans as inferior, plain and simple. Always have, always will. There is a lot of racism against Koreans in Japan. The Japanese only view some western countries as equal to them (as long as they are white).

[Jeff @ Nov 9th 2007 11:49AM]

Are you guys crazy? Korea is the "in" thing in Japan right now - probably because of stuff like this:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0408/p15s01-altv.html
http://star-korean.blogspot.com/2007/05/japanese-drama-with-korean-actor-tops.html
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/320039

If you're under the impression Japan "hates" Korea or thinks they're inferior, you're way, way off. Korea's also one of the top vacation destinations for Japanese people right now.

This is just about brand loyalty, that's all. And the Japanese can be just as loyal to foreign brands as their own; witness the popularity of Coca Cola-owned Georgia Coffee, or even the iPod. Once they get stuck to a particular brand, it's very hard to pry them off. And they're just stuck on Sony and National (Matsushita/Panasonic to us).

[LJKelley @ Nov 9th 2007 12:45PM]

Having lived in Korea, there is defineately still some hatred towards Japan over its occupation of Korea. Again, I think as stated Japanases still are a very haughty people, they didn't humble themselves like Germany did after WWII.

[tekdemon @ Nov 9th 2007 3:31PM]

Jeff, while Korean dramas are certainly popular in Japan (they're actually popular in the entirety of Asia and Japan can only insulate itself so much), there's also a huge anti-Korean movement that goes along with the increased popularity of Korean dramas.

Just google for it and you'll find some pretty ridiculous comic books from Japan (which assert that Koreans essentially copied Japan with their electronics, cars, etc). Either way, while Korean dramas may be popular, don't assume that means that the Japanese actually welcome Korean electronics or cars. Plus, the current political climate in Japan has been leaning somewhat rightward these days (towards the political side that likes to rewrite history...even the United States hasn't been left out of some of these revisions). The leftist Japanese Communist Party has seen it's voting shrink to a fraction of what it used to be (the Japanese Communist Party actually supports both capitalism and democracy, and is against any sort of revolution so they often got double digits of the vote back in the 80's and 90's) while the uber-right has seen the opposite happen. Kinda crappy since the only party that's FOR apologizing to all it's asian neighbors and being friendlier with nearby neighbors is the JCP, and incidentally the JCP is also the only party that's had a lot of elected female officials. Of course it's probably easier for the JCP to take an apologetic stance on World War II, since they were against it before Japan ever started fighting, lol.

[primetime4 @ Nov 9th 2007 9:39AM]

It wouldn't surprise me either if Sony and Panasonic were to pull out of the South Korean market. Same with the respective car manufacturers. There is still a bit of bad blood going on here and a lot of nationalism. Moreso I think than compared to US products.

[Rich @ Nov 9th 2007 9:48AM]

There's a lot of lacism in that part of the world...

[L.Cyphre @ Nov 9th 2007 11:15AM]

>lacism
Joke duly noted.

[Jamie @ Nov 9th 2007 10:59AM]

I think I get your joke. Vely funny.

[dxchase @ Nov 9th 2007 10:12AM]

And soon Microsoft will pull the Xbox360 out of Japan ...

[Donald @ Nov 9th 2007 2:55PM]

Ah, but they beat the PS3 in the last week reported in terms of units sold.

[mmh @ Nov 9th 2007 10:19AM]

Maybe it's because Korean quality aren't up to par in terms of Japanese standard.

[mechguy @ Nov 9th 2007 10:30AM]

lol are u kidding me?
do you also live in a cave? if you did not know, samsung and sony collaborate often to produce products such as lcd displays. actually they operate a plant, that manufacture lcd, together! so if what you say is true, that would mean that samsung is poor in quality and therefore sony is suckass too?

get your head out of your "japan is better than thou" ass. the world today is not what it was 20 years ago.

[mmh @ Nov 9th 2007 11:23AM]

I observed how in your short history of two replies, both were related to defending Korea and bashing Japan.

And that you like caves. I love lamp.

[daliminator2000 @ Nov 9th 2007 1:09PM]

WTF?

Definite trolling there. Honestly, Korean products in general tend to be extremely high quality because consumers there tend to be extremely picky and demanding concerning build quality, design, support, etc. Stop trying to pick fights.

[mmh @ Nov 9th 2007 3:50PM]

Woah, you people need to consume less sugar. Troll? I was merely suggesting a possible case scenario. There's (currently) no evidence to prove me right or wrong, so making a big fuss over my comment is beyond me. It's just pure speculation.

The Japanese are known for their obsession with quality, at least that's my impression of them, and to date all of my Made in Japan's have delivered. So I came to the conclusion that keyword:MAYBE it's their (Samsung's) relatively not-as-superior quality that led to this.

I fail to see why this is viewed as trolling or picking a fight. But whatever, nobody gives a shit anyway.

[mechguy @ Nov 9th 2007 6:21PM]

mmh, how am i bashing japan in my comments? what i state is objective. i live in japan and i love this place. please don't leave comments that are ignorant and troll like and i wont try to pry you out of your cave.

[daniel @ Nov 10th 2007 12:32AM]

As Sean said in an earlier post,

"The Japanese view Koreans as inferior, plain and simple. Always have, always will. There is a lot of racism against Koreans in Japan. The Japanese only view some western countries as equal to them (as long as they are white)."

Proved.

[streetstealth @ Nov 9th 2007 10:23AM]

Maybe they decided that since their panels are already in all the major Japanese manufacturers' TVs and monitors, selling their own branded stuff there was superfluous?

From my outsider's perspective, that seems like Samsung's biggest international market right now -- the LCDs and flash memory that go into the other big names on the market. Maybe they decided that was their most efficient way to continue doing business in Japan.

[newgalactic @ Nov 9th 2007 10:58AM]

Isn't Samsung the #1 most bought LCD TV manufacturer in the US? I thought they sold the most LCD TV's here in the States. Is that true or not?

[leep @ Nov 9th 2007 11:22AM]

If I had to speculate I would think there was some back room deal with Sony through the whole S-LCD deal between Sony and Samsung... Samsung still sells the same number of LCD's really... they just dont have to pay any of the marketing and other costs, but their concession is in the rest of the consumer goods which didnt sell well in the first place.

[umijin @ Nov 9th 2007 11:27AM]

I live in Japan and the reason is not history. Yes, there has been historical bias against all other asian cultures in. But it's not quite that way today. Korean culture and language was popular last year, along with several TV series. You couldn't find a TV station that didn't have some Korean actor/actress or drama airing on a nightly basis.

The reason Samsung is leaving is Japanese consumer bias towards their brands - Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and bias against brands they consider as cheap and inferior. I frequently go to electronic stores here. The Samsung, LG, and other such brands products are all less expensive, but they have bright catchy displays. Japanese consumers walk right by them - hardly stop. They are stuck on name brands in their comfort zone.

I've been guilty of this myself. When shopping for a fridge or monitor, I would rather a bit extra for a solid Japanese brand. In my case, I don't see the screen quality I want, or the energy saving features I want in the case of fridges. Maybe I'm guilty of the same bias.

These are just fussy consumers, perhaps too into much into their name-brand lifestyles.

[phil @ Nov 9th 2007 12:17PM]

umijin is correct. This is simply a case of most Japanese being more comfortable with their own product brand names. It happens in every country too, U.S. not excluded. Some U.S. citizens won't buy anything other than an American car, or an American appliance, or an American computer (Apple, HP) etc. etc.. It's not necessarily being racist, it's just ingrain in them to buy American, same as the Japanese, Koreans, French, you name it. Home Marketing works wonders on the locals.

[bharatk12 @ Nov 9th 2007 11:29AM]

If u really want to compare a SAMSUNG and SONY lcd....just adjust a few color options of the bravia.............SOny has thrown in so many color options its almost like playing a frickin video game.

the level of black and white adjustment is very helpful...

[daniel @ Nov 10th 2007 12:34AM]

Sony and Samsung produces their LCDs from the same plant...

[Willen @ Nov 10th 2007 5:19AM]

I just want to clear any misconceptions about Sony and Samsung's joint venture LCD manufacturing company S-LCD Corporation. The only thing that is produced there are the LCD panels. Any actual TV manufacturing is carried out elsewhere. In Sony's case, that would be in Japan or for the US market sets, Mexico. Go to your local TV store and you won't see "Made in Korea" mentioned anywhere on the box or on the sticker on the rear of the TV. Guess where Samsung's TVs are assembled.

Assuming that any TV made with the same panel will produce the same picture is like assuming that a Saturn VUE SUV with the Honda engine will perform like the equivalent Honda vehicle. There's a lot more inside a LCD TV set than just a panel.

[Ben Hobbs @ Nov 11th 2007 4:24AM]

Not really, the panel is the one with all the quantifiable measurements like response time, contrast ratio etc...

All that is added really is a box for it to fit into, a power supply and some electronics, which usually do more damage to the picture quality than help.

[Blake @ Nov 9th 2007 2:17PM]

No more Samsung Blu-Ray players?

[Writer @ Nov 9th 2007 3:13PM]

Um, history has nothing to do with this. Japanese consumers are very brand concious and brand loyal. Some of you tend to think that Japanese consumers only prefer Japanese brands, but nooooo. They are loyal to brands, not their nationality. Consider European brands like Gucci, LV, Chanel, Mercedes, BMW.... US brands like Apple, Levis, Bose, Coca-Cola... they all are VERY successful in Japan.

On the other hand, if you mess up your brand image, it's hard to convince Japanese consumers to buy them. Take Xbox for example. The word "x" is associated with "failure" in Japan. "X" means punishment, failure, bad, wrong, etc., in Japanese culture. Also, when Microsoft first launched the console it downplayed various hardware issues and refused to address them. The "Xbox brand" is associated with negative image there, and the lack of game selections that accomodate their taste doesn't help the situation either.

As for Samsung in Japan, their brand image is associated with cheap, inferior products. Let's be honest here: Samsung is successful in the US partly because many US consumers (not us geeks, remind you) assume that Samsung is a Japanese company. American consumers associate Japanese products with images like, "quality," "high tech" etc. Brand image has a lot to do with success, not just in Japan, but here in America also.

[daniel @ Nov 10th 2007 12:37AM]

Samsung doesn't even sound Japanese. But I guess that's an "only in America" thing.

[KCC @ Nov 9th 2007 5:22PM]

What the hell is up with all these Korea vs Japan comments, Samsung stopped selling their shit in Japan, they didnt declare a bloody war. It was perfectly reasonable to pull out due to poor sales, and its a given that people tend to buy 'home brand products'. Take this for example, the 360 is the biggest selling console in the US, the ps3/wii is the biggest selling console in japan over the xbox by FAR.

[brhak @ Nov 10th 2007 4:19AM]

This is typical evidence that Japanese are afraid of Korean company. They believe they can support their domestic company by neglecting Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc.

Today, almost all Japanese companies lose against Korean getting power. Sony has suffered a disastrous defeat. I think Panasonic is next victim because of huge unreasonable capital investment of their PDP.

[Genie @ Nov 11th 2007 11:45PM]

Lets take a look at the facts:

Great Korean electronic companies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electronics_companies_of_South_Korea

Besides Samsung and LG, how many companies has anybody heard of?

Now Japanese Electronic Companies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electronics_companies_of_Japan

Take a look at some of the names: Hitachi, Toshiba, Sony, Casio, NEC, TDK, JVC,
Panasonic, Roland, Fujitsu, Canon, Sharp, Fujifilm, Pioneer, Kyocera, Konica Minolta,
Maxell, Mitsubishi, Ricoh, Pentax, Olympus, Nintendo, Sanyo, Epson, Nikon, Yamaha,
Seiko, Citizen Watch, Kenwood and more.

The simple fact is that the Japanese in general just couldn't give a damn about a few Korean companies because there are many domestic companies that make high quality products.