Sanyo Electric to sell cellphone business

[YPG]

LINK (http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?type=comktNews&storyID=2006-11-23T034640Z_01_T109411_RTRIDST_0_TECH-JAPAN-SANYO.XML)

TOKYO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Sanyo Electric Co. (6764.T: Quote, NEWS, Research), which is headed for its third straight loss this business year, plans to sell its cellphone operations as part of a new restructuring plan, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on Thursday.

The business daily said Sanyo, which earlier this year issued $2.6 billion worth of preferred shares on very favourable terms to Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and two other financial institutions to ensure its survival, will also sell its semiconductor division.

The newspaper said Sanyo would look to spin off its cellphone division as early as in the next financial year starting in April and then sell the majority of the new company to a competitor.

Sadakazu Shima, a spokesman for the Osaka-based electronics maker, declined to comment on the report.

Sanyo embarked on large-scale restructuring last year, aiming to cut 15 percent of its workforce, close factories, and trim unprofitable operations, but it has not achieved the desired result.

A company source told Reuters last week that Sanyo would likely post a net loss as large as 50 billion yen ($428 million) for the business year to March 2007, missing its initial forecast for a profit of 20 billion yen.

Sanyo has been hit by weak demand for its mobile phones in North America, sliding sales of digital cameras, and larger-than-expected costs for job cuts and consolidation of production facilities, the source said.

The company is expected to announce the downward revision when it unveils first half results on Friday.

Sanyo will also look to sell its chip operations, which it spun off in July. Other steps include ending domestic sales of air conditioners, cutting advertising and promotion expenses, and shifting digital camera production in Japan and South Korea to other parts of Asia, the Nihon Keizai said.

Say it isn't so!

[reemusk]

EVERYONE GO BUY A SANYO PHONE :)


who would buy them?

[echelon4]

nooooooooooooooooooo

[landale]

I sure hope this doesn't mean we won't be seeing any new Sanyo phones for a while after the M1. I was hoping to see a power vision katana in the spring/summer or even better; a power vision 4900 series phone.

[willwise]

I don't understand how sells fell they have been making top quality phones for years

[He123321]

I don't understand how sells fell they have been making top quality phones for years

If Sanyo was to start manufacturig/selling phone to the other US provider, this might help their sinking ship.

[dfwtxpatrick]

^ I agree, Sanyo could sell to other providers, but I don't know if SPCS has them locked into an EXCLUSIVE setup?

I actually think if Sanyo sells its Mobile Phone division, it will most likely be to MotoCorp.

The reason I think that, is because Sanyo has the outstanding Build Quality that Moto so needs right now. Besides, Moto could buy Sanyo and really raise it's profits.

We'll see!

[landale]

I don't understand how sells fell they have been making top quality phones for years

Sanyo over the last year has had a lot of gaps in their phone lineup that were only recently addressed. Until the launch of the Sanyo 3100 they didn't have a low end camera phone that both LG and Samsung have had for over a year. Even though they were one of the first companies with a thin phone in the US it took too long for the Katana to be released. Also after the MM-7500 was discontinued they didn't have a readily available power vision phone for months. So while LG and Samsung were selling A920's, Blades and Fusics the highest level phone Sanyo had was the 8300 until the October release of the 8400. Also Sanyo hasn't had anything on the high end since the 9000 was discontinued almost a year ago.

I love Sanyo phones and realize some of these problems have as much to do with Sprint as it does Sanyo, I can totally see why they are in trouble as this has not been a good release year for the company.

[flipn0tic]

I actually think if Sanyo sells its Mobile Phone division, it will most likely be to MotoCorp.

The reason I think that, is because Sanyo has the outstanding Build Quality that Moto so needs right now. Besides, Moto could buy Sanyo and really raise it's profits.

We'll see!
pipe dreams, imo... =/

[w7excursion]

!!NO MORE AIRCONDITIONERS?! I mean phones, and hold on to your Sanyos and dont let go! :lol:

[jes]

^ I agree, Sanyo could sell to other providers, but I don't know if SPCS has them locked into an EXCLUSIVE setup?

I know they sell to Qwest wireless as well.

[Jonathanlc2005]

this is a day for morning

[jes]

It may be time to buy several M1s and put them in the closet for safekeeping.

[Wayne 1]

It's sad that quality alone does not guarantee success.

[willwise]

It's sad that quality alone does not guarantee success.
very true

[james2K]

this is quite sad indeed :bawl:

[jes]

Maybe we should form an investment consortium among SprintUsers and buy out Sanyo ourselves :cool:

[shamefulzero]

is this true? i dont belive it. just like tmobile is gonna buy sprint

[YPG]

I got this as a mobile text alert today but when I googled, the article I found was from Wendsday.
I'm just surprised no one else caught it. :)

[shamefulzero]

what will sprint do?

[reemusk]

Maybe we should form an investment consortium among SprintUsers and buy out Sanyo ourselves :cool:


genius! who's got 9000 gajillion dollars?! maybe they'll take SU!

[DrewSG3]

That's what happen when you don't build phones that people want.

Quality is good, yes. But, you have to make phones that people will say "I want that!". Unfortunately Sanyo doesn't go that route.

[Jonathanlc2005]

maybe they will change thier minds when sanyo m1 sells out...

what they should have done was sell a PDA and a hybrid and see how that sold before selling out

[17Hz]

genius! who's got 9000 gajillion dollars?! maybe they'll take SU!


I do...................

[Dale]

I don't understand how sells fell they have been making top quality phones for years

Toshiba made some really neato phones (still have the Toshiba VM4050), but they still went bye bye down the toilet!

[Badger_Wi]

I hate to hear this also. My Sanyo has been my favorite.

[mleach07]

:jaw: :bawl: Oh No Say it`s Not True,Sanyo`s are the only phones that i ever dealt with,guess i better save up for the M1,and i hope it doesn`t be a limited release like the 9000 was that would suck!!!!

[tbakergobuck]

I wonder what phones Sprint reps will push once Sanyo is gone? I'm not sure if I understand but could this affect software updates for the M1? Damit I wanted a Sanyo pda/smart phone. :irked:

[krudl3r]

This must be fall-out from the failed Nokia joint venture... perhaps it will still be Nokia, just no longer a "joint venture".


http://www.wirelesswatch.jp/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1778
http://www.mobilised.com.au/content/view/416/88/

[shamefulzero]

why doesnt sprint buy sanyo out, like they did with nextel. then open up production lines of the exact same product under the sprint name. DING DING DING. that be smart wouldnt it?


cmon sanyo fanatics LETS FLOOD E-CARE WITH THIS IDEA.

[landale]

Sprint has run the Nextel brand into the ground since buying them. I don't think I would trust them much with Sanyo. It's an interesting idea although I wonder if there would be anti-trust issues if they were to buy Sanyo's cell phone business and I am sure it would make it less likely for a company like Samsung to want to deliver hot new phones to Sprint.

Personally I think the best scenario would be if a smaller company or more likely one looking to move into the US cell phone market bought them as an entry into the US. Sorta like what Lenovo did when they purchased IBM's laptop division. This was actually a good situation for all parties. I think this would be the best situation for the consumers who love the Sanyo product as a company like Nokia or LG would have no need to preserve the features we have come to love from our Sanyo phones when their own interface and feature set would be easier and cheaper for them to implement.

[MacUser]

this is a day for morning

Mourning..... yes it is.

[shamefulzero]

Sprint has run the Nextel brand into the ground since buying them. I don't think I would trust them much with Sanyo. It's an interesting idea although I wonder if there would be anti-trust issues if they were to buy Sanyo's cell phone business and I am sure it would make it less likely for a company like Samsung to want to deliver hot new phones to Sprint.

Personally I think the best scenario would be if a smaller company or more likely one looking to move into the US cell phone market bought them as an entry into the US. Sorta like what Lenovo did when they purchased IBM's laptop division. This was actually a good situation for all parties. I think this would be the best situation for the consumers who love the Sanyo product as a company like Nokia or LG would have no need to preserve the features we have come to love from our Sanyo phones when their own interface and feature set would be easier and cheaper for them to implement.


#1st off nextel drove nextel into the ground, you are right that if sprint bought sanyo samsung wouldnt want to release phone on sprint. makes sense. if a small company bout sanyo then yes that would probably be the best thing. but if LG bought sanyo. id be an ex sanyo fan. but sanyo going out is probably still a year away. so lets enjoy the 2007 line up and buy the **** out of them

[olsen469]

i think after the M1 is released, leaving the 8400 still in good hands along with the katana, sanyo will have a good upcoming year that is until they discontinue those, and dont come out with anything special for another year, like this one... :irked:

[Jonathanlc2005]

why doesnt sprint buy sanyo out, like they did with nextel. then open up production lines of the exact same product under the sprint name. DING DING DING. that be smart wouldnt it?


cmon sanyo fanatics LETS FLOOD E-CARE WITH THIS IDEA.


or samsung should buy it so we can have a cool phone that actully achieves signal like a sanyo.

call it samyo :lol:

[olsen469]

or samsung should buy it so we can have a cool phone that actully achieves signal like a sanyo.

call it samyo :lol:


good idea :tu:

[scott_walker]

I am just hoping that Sanyo will still work hard to fix issues and create updates for their current and upcoming phones, eg the 8400 and M1. I would imagine it may seem a bit futile for them to work hard to get the bugs out of a phone for a company that will cease to exist in a few months.

But then again on the other hand perhaps the company will be purchased by some company that allows it to continue as a whole, but will just be renamed/rebranded. Kind of doubt that though.

(Hey Sanyo! Just in case you're listening...I'm on my 3rd Sanyo phone. It would take a lot of persuading for me to buy a phone other than Sanyo. And last but not least...it is the only Sanyo product I own. Think about that for a while)

[Tranceport]

I know they sell to Qwest wireless as well.


This is because sprint and qwest share networks



This is less than hard to believe being an exclusive sprint provider and seeing the consecutive quarters sprints had, it just ads up.

[shamefulzero]

so is there any reports as to when sanyo will actully go down? or is this just something they plan to do in the future? i saw a hybrid name nokia-san gosh that would have been great if nokia bought out sanyo made nokia phones with sanyo technoligy, and strength

[professor80]

its frustrating, because Sanyo doesn't launch phones very often, and thats part of their problem. If they came out with more phones like Samsung they would make more profit. but it takes them forever to launch a new phone.

[professor80]

The other point I have is that Sanyo didn't make a lot of the MM 9000 or the MM 5600 both phones flagships of their handset line. And they haven't really come out with anything since to compare to the MM - 9000

[rjsommer]

There will still be plenty of phones to choose from no matter what happens to Sanyo's wireless phone div. This is just more incentive for whoever takes over the product line to keep pumping out quality phones. LG is said to have gotten better over the years.

Sanyo's biggest problem IMO is their exclusive marriage to Sprint. They should have cranked out some tdma/gsm phones for the other carriers too.

[PCSuser]

The reason IMO that Sanyo doesn't release phones as frequent as Samsung or LG is because Sanyo makes quality phones. LG and Samsung make quantity (not so much quality)

It takes a while for a good thing to be thought of... made... distributed

[tbakergobuck]

I think Sanyo spends a lot more time testing there phones as well. They usually have very few bugs when released.

[Matt]

<-- recalls redial bug that plagued his VM4500.

[jes]

The problem with Sanyo is, in general, that they failed to shift with a rapidly chaning landscape. Asian rivals with lower costs were and still are cutting into their most lucrative businesses, those being batteries, solar energy, and mobile phones. As far as the cellphone business goes, Sanyo has really taken a toll in the North American market. No matter the pipe dreams cooked up here, their mobile phone shipements in North America have fallen drastically over the last 18 months, their market share cut from 6% in 2004 to nearly 3%. Their failure has nothing to do with the precieved quality here, it has everything to do with their complacent business strategies. Sanyo released their first Bluetooth handset nearly halfway through 2006, a long shot away from the innovator they once were for the marketplace four years ago with the 5300. They relied solely up until about a year ago on mid-tier handsets. Whatever their reasoning for the continual rehashing of everything, they have payed a price for it all.

And one more thing. There is no "exclusivity" agreement with Sprint and Sanyo anylonger. It is not so much a problem with Sprint as other carriers not wishing to add another handset manufacture, especially not one who has little to bring to the table. All of the other carries are doing better than Sprint, and that is wholy without Sanyo.
I'll probably take *&%@! for this, but :good:
I remember clearly when the 9000 was released as the flagship that everyone asked "where is the Bluetooth???"

[iBLoSTBoY]

Hmmmmmm Sanyo has denied they will sell their Cellphone business, I don't believe it yet.



Some media have reported that Sanyo is considering selling off its digital-camera and mobile-phone businesses, but Iue denied the reports. On the contrary, he said, "we can make the most of our technology for function-rich mobile phones, for which demand will grow, and we're focusing on value-added digital cameras with our own brand."

[iBLoSTBoY]

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196500167



I think Sanyo realizes they have been lagging behind their competitors when it comes to offering features,design in their cell phones. They will try to fix that, and if they still don't sell - Then i would think sanyo would get out of the cell phone game.

[shamefulzero]

you know, maybe they are going to kick themselves in the ass for a year or two, before throwing in the towel. i bought a sanyo phone for the 1st time in 3 years this year. i will buy the m1 and the sanyo 7600 when they relize we all want it.

but then again companies always say there not going to sell off divisions, as part of advertising that they are selling it.

i mean look at Clear Channel radio, biggest radio company in the U.S. they just sold off all there TV station and alot of small market radio stations

[tbakergobuck]

<-- recalls redial bug that plagued his VM4500.Another bug that was blown out of portion and wasn't that like 5 years ago. Some people never had the issue and to me it wasn't a big huge deal taking a few extra seconds to call out. Look at the A900 it has so many issues they had to make another model. lol Sanyo's might not be as good as they once were but I still would much rather buy a Sanyo then any other manufacture.

[flipn0tic]

i've never had a redial bug.

[Marlon_JB2]

<-- recalls redial bug that plagued his VM4500.
It's 2003 all over again!

[ScrapMaker]

I've had mine redial a few times... but so has EVERY sprint phone I've ever owned... sometimes you have to retry like 3 times just to get a signal...

I miss you 5500... :(

[james2K]

good 'ole 5500...you were the first phone i ever bought outright ($380 w/tax in '04), then a month later you got the redial bug and i couldn't make a call. good times :indiff:

I never had an easier time getting a replacement tho...bought the phone at best buy, they told me to go to sprint, i go to a corp. sprint store on a Sunday, and they employee (not a tech) goes in the back and I get a brand new 5500. It has NEVER been that easy getting a replacement since (although I never bricked joni's fusic with the s/w update).

[Quill]

Doesn't Sanyo also make phones for Asian markets as well as providers in other countries (not Europe, though, as far as I can tell)? So, I don't know that it's just due to the Sprint shrinkage this year.
Cell phone manufacturers find the American market a tough one to crack anyway. Sony Ericsson pulled out of CDMA and has only a handful of GSM phones with Cingular. Nokia has decided to outsource manufacturing of CDMA phones for the North American market. And Sanyo seems to be struggling. So, that probably makes it difficult for Sanyo, but it sounds like the company has big picture issues beyond the cell phone division. You're look at business model issues here that go beyond our market and one type of technology.

I liked my Sanyo phones. It would be a shame if the quit making handsets. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

[gla17624]

Sanyo over the last year has had a lot of gaps in their phone lineup that were only recently addressed. Until the launch of the Sanyo 3100 they didn't have a low end camera phone that both LG and Samsung have had for over a year. Even though they were one of the first companies with a thin phone in the US it took too long for the Katana to be released. Also after the MM-7500 was discontinued they didn't have a readily available power vision phone for months. So while LG and Samsung were selling A920's, Blades and Fusics the highest level phone Sanyo had was the 8300 until the October release of the 8400. Also Sanyo hasn't had anything on the high end since the 9000 was discontinued almost a year ago.

I love Sanyo phones and realize some of these problems have as much to do with Sprint as it does Sanyo, I can totally see why they are in trouble as this has not been a good release year for the company.

maybe the reason why sanyo has taken a while to release phones lately is because of the financial troubles talked about in the article. if they've been having financial problems as long as the article says, then couldn't they have cut back on their cell phone development?

[SingSongBird]

Lot's of good points have been made. But, if this is true I'll have to stock up because I'm finding Sanyos are really the best handsets.

[scotsboyuk]

Cell phone manufacturers find the American market a tough one to crack anyway. Sony Ericsson pulled out of CDMA and has only a handful of GSM phones with Cingular. Nokia has decided to outsource manufacturing of CDMA phones for the North American market.

I think the reason SE pulled out of the American CDMA market probably had more to do with them seeing more profitability in the global GSM market. When SE first started they were a rather small manufacturer (they still aren't Nokia huge), and they had a limited range of handsets. It's understandable that they would have chosen to target their limited resources where they would gain the most return. The North American CDMA market is a relatively small market in overall global terms, and this arguably has more to do with manufacturers lessening their involvement in it than the market being tough to crack; in other words they aren't really focused upon it.

As for their current GSM handsets this is actually a sign of SE stepping up its American operations. To be quite frank I don't think SE was really bothering with North America up until fairly recently. They were a small company and most of their efforts were focused on their home markets of Europe (they are the number two manufacturer, after Nokia, in the UK) and Japan. Now that they are growing they have been lauching more handsets in other parts of the world, including North America.

[scott_walker]

I didn't even realize that they manufactured gsm handsets. Guess they just market to countries other than the US for those.

[Quill]

I think the reason SE pulled out of the American CDMA market probably had more to do with them seeing more profitability in the global GSM market. When SE first started they were a rather small manufacturer (they still aren't Nokia huge), and they had a limited range of handsets. It's understandable that they would have chosen to target their limited resources where they would gain the most return. The North American CDMA market is a relatively small market in overall global terms, and this arguably has more to do with manufacturers lessening their involvement in it than the market being tough to crack; in other words they aren't really focused upon it.

As for their current GSM handsets this is actually a sign of SE stepping up its American operations. To be quite frank I don't think SE was really bothering with North America up until fairly recently. They were a small company and most of their efforts were focused on their home markets of Europe (they are the number two manufacturer, after Nokia, in the UK) and Japan. Now that they are growing they have been lauching more handsets in other parts of the world, including North America.


Yes, that is what I was trying to say. The North American CDMA market probably doesn't seem like a good place for a company like SE to focus its efforts. And Nokia is having Pantech, I believe, manufacture its CDMA handsets for N.A. but they are badged Nokia. Interesting, I think.

As for Sanyo, though, it seems like there's more to it than having problems making money here. Seems like a different situation to me, but any way you slice it, getting companies to make CDMA phones for North American carriers seems a tough sell lately.

[scotsboyuk]

Yes, that is what I was trying to say. The North American CDMA market probably doesn't seem like a good place for a company like SE to focus its efforts. And Nokia is having Pantech, I believe, manufacture its CDMA handsets for N.A. but they are badged Nokia. Interesting, I think.

As for Sanyo, though, it seems like there's more to it than having problems making money here. Seems like a different situation to me, but any way you slice it, getting companies to make CDMA phones for North American carriers seems a tough sell lately.

I think the overall global market is becoming tougher, as seen by manufacturers either going out of business or merging. The North American CDMA market really isn't the best place for a small and/or struggling manufacturer to focus in my opinion.

What is interesting, as you pointed out, is Nokia's step back from the CDMA market. Mind you, I don't think Nokia ever really gave it a huge amount of attention, but being the largest manufacturer it is still somewhat surprising.

[tkrandall]

CDMA has certain advantages and is likely here to stay for the a long while in the U.S. That being the case, I really do wish that manufactureurs and carriers would get over their silly turf wars and start deploying multimode/multi-frequency CDMA/GSM handsets that would provide customers of either GSM or CDMA carriers much more robust global roaming. I think the CDMA carriers in particular are doing themselves a big disservice on the revenue line by not insisting on widespread deployment of handsets with this capability. What is likely happeing as a result is that would-be high yield U.S. customers that travel a lot are going to the GSM competition solely due to the fact their GSM phone will work in Europe.

[scotsboyuk]

CDMA has certain advantages and is likely here to stay for the a long while in the U.S. That being the case, I really do wish that manufactureurs and carriers would get over their silly turf wars and start deploying multimode/multi-frequency CDMA/GSM handsets that would provide customers of either GSM or CDMA carriers much more robust global roaming. I think the CDMA carriers in particular are doing themselves a big disservice on the revenue line by not insisting on widespread deployment of handsets with this capability. What is likely happeing as a result is that would-be high yield U.S. customers that travel a lot are going to the GSM competition solely due to the fact their GSM phone will work in Europe.

I don't think you are likely to see many more dual CDMA/GSM handsets. CDMA just doesn't have the customer base to make it profitable for some manufacturers to divert significant resources into developing handsets for it. One could argue that the manufacturers would also be developing handsets for GSM networks, but there really isn't much call for dual CDMA/GSM handsets from GSM customers.

CDMA is difficult territory for manufacturers because it doesn't have a massive customer base in relative terms, but then one might argue that there is less competition so a manufacturer might think it could have an easier time of things with CDMA handsets. I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is that if the North American CDMA market doesn't change in some significant way, manufacturers are not going to have any incentive to either focus give it more focus or re-enter the market.

[tkrandall]

I don't think you are likely to see many more dual CDMA/GSM handsets. CDMA just doesn't have the customer base to make it profitable for some manufacturers to divert significant resources into developing handsets for it. One could argue that the manufacturers would also be developing handsets for GSM networks, but there really isn't much call for dual CDMA/GSM handsets from GSM customers.

CDMA is difficult territory for manufacturers because it doesn't have a massive customer base in relative terms, but then one might argue that there is less competition so a manufacturer might think it could have an easier time of things with CDMA handsets. I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is that if the North American CDMA market doesn't change in some significant way, manufacturers are not going to have any incentive to either focus give it more focus or re-enter the market.

I do not understand the thinking of the CDMa carriers, because they seemingly cannot effectivly compete long term on a domestic service CDMA base alone, given the GSM size and breadth which gives them tremendous advantages on user features, handset selection and global coverage. So, if we cannot have multi-mode CDMA/GSM, I guess the real question is will CDMA and GSM as we know them last much that longer, or will we see some other air interface platform in the near future get universally adopted worldwide to replace them?

[ScrapMaker]

yeah... it's called WiMAX

[scotsboyuk]

I do not understand the thinking of the CDMa carriers, because they seemingly cannot effectivly compete long term on a domestic service CDMA base alone, given the GSM size and breadth which gives them tremendous advantages on user features, handset selection and global coverage. So, if we cannot have multi-mode CDMA/GSM, I guess the real question is will CDMA and GSM as we know them last much that longer, or will we see some other air interface platform in the near future get universally adopted worldwide to replace them?

As the poster above mentioned, WiMAX is being touted as a possible 4G technology. Personally I am not sure whether it will become the dominant 4G technology or not. To become the dominant global standard a technology is going to need the support of certain key players in my opinion. The manufacturers obviously have to be willing to make the relevant handsets for one. There is also the matter of the networks, which one could argue is the most important factor.

It is difficult to see any technology becoming the global standard if certain networks do not support it e.g. Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, etc. These networks have the ability to spread a standard around the world in multiple countries, and thus give any standard an immediate boost in terms of becoming the dominant standard.

[Dubspoon]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone MM-9000/US/1.0) NetFront/3.1 MMP/2.0)

So which division of the company will fold

[Richard186]

LINK (http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?type=comktNews&storyID=2006-11-23T034640Z_01_T109411_RTRIDST_0_TECH-JAPAN-SANYO.XML)

TOKYO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Sanyo Electric Co. (6764.T: Quote, NEWS, Research), which is headed for its third straight loss this business year, plans to sell its cellphone operations as part of a new restructuring plan, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on Thursday.

The business daily said Sanyo, which earlier this year issued $2.6 billion worth of preferred shares on very favourable terms to Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and two other financial institutions to ensure its survival, will also sell its semiconductor division.

The newspaper said Sanyo would look to spin off its cellphone division as early as in the next financial year starting in April and then sell the majority of the new company to a competitor.

Sadakazu Shima, a spokesman for the Osaka-based electronics maker, declined to comment on the report.

Sanyo embarked on large-scale restructuring last year, aiming to cut 15 percent of its workforce, close factories, and trim unprofitable operations, but it has not achieved the desired result.

A company source told Reuters last week that Sanyo would likely post a net loss as large as 50 billion yen ($428 million) for the business year to March 2007, missing its initial forecast for a profit of 20 billion yen.

Sanyo has been hit by weak demand for its mobile phones in North America, sliding sales of digital cameras, and larger-than-expected costs for job cuts and consolidation of production facilities, the source said.

The company is expected to announce the downward revision when it unveils first half results on Friday.

Sanyo will also look to sell its chip operations, which it spun off in July. Other steps include ending domestic sales of air conditioners, cutting advertising and promotion expenses, and shifting digital camera production in Japan and South Korea to other parts of Asia, the Nihon Keizai said.

Say it isn't so!

This article is quite interesting in that there is NO article about Sanyo selling their cell phone division ANYWHERE else except in this particular paper. Sanyo has denied they are selling, and have quite a few new phones due out later in '07 including WiMax and a possible smart phone. Before panicking about one article saying a company is selling something and try finding additional evidence to back up the article in question (BTW, this is the 4th time in 3 years this paper has said this about Sanyo and they have been wrong every time, interesting, huh?

[Dubspoon]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone MM-9000/US/1.0) NetFront/3.1 MMP/2.0)

I didn't put a lot of stock it that article but it does sound likely that a part of the company will shut down