Hitachi outsources TV production

Hitachi will outsource the production of TVs to manufacturers in Taiwan, among others. Currently, the Japanese group still has its own production line for televisions in its home country. Hitachi continues to sell TVs under its own name.

It outsource of Hitachi’s TV production follows the poor quarterly figures the company presented last week. In the first quarter, which ended on June 30, the division that includes TVs recorded a nine percent lower turnover than a year earlier, while net profit fell by almost 16 percent to 28.2 million euros.

This was mainly due to price pressure and disappointing demand on the television market, but the strong yen also resulted in lower profits. The decline in TV sales was partly offset by increased sales of energy-efficient air conditioners.

Other electronics manufacturers are also suffering from the tight TV market. For example, Sony reported that it will focus more on the more expensive TV segment and announced a reorganization of its TV division. Company saw the turnover of the Consumer Products & Services division, which includes TVs, fell by 17.9 percent in the last quarter compared to a year earlier, while profits fell from 25 million euros to 1.5 million euros.

‘Market conditions’ in Europe and the United States caused the poor numbers, but Sony TV sales in Japan continued to increase. The increased demand in the home country was a result of the discontinuation of analogue TV broadcasting on July 24 of this year.

Panasonic, Samsung and LG are also affected by the saturated TV market. According to DigiTimes considers Panasonic to outsource some of its TV production and Samsung’s TV division suffered a loss for the second consecutive quarter. Philips already announced in April this year that the production of TVs will be transferred to a newly formed joint venture with the Chinese TPV.