Red is the new black as Panasonic joins Sony in posting annual losses
The corporate cultures at Panasonic and Sony are quite different, but the two companies now have something in common -- annual losses for the first time in a long time. At seven years long, Panasonic's run of profitability was only half that of Sony's, but this economy doesn't discriminate -- Panasonic wrapped up the fiscal year in March with parentheses surrounding a ¥444 billion ($4.6 billion) figure. All the product sectors we love -- TVs, digicams, appliances and semiconductors -- are hurting, falling short of the previous year's sales figures by 14.4-percent. With cost-cutting a top priority for the coming year, Panasonic's plasma TVs will have to pull in some numbers to avoid the axe -- we're hoping the NeoPDPs are as much of a hit with consumers as they are with reviewers.
