松下：押注环保事业风险虽高，但值得一试

日本消费性电子大厂松下(Panasonic)总裁津贺一宏(Kazuhiro Tsuga)表示，该公司恐怕连续第二年面临100亿日圆净损，而他现在最大的挑战就是要让公司转亏为盈。津贺在日前于 2013年国际消费性电子展(CES)发表专题演说时，阐述松下横跨汽车、航天、家电等应用领域的绿色科技策略；虽然令人钦佩，但这个方向也许只会让他的挑战更加艰巨。 在津贺结束专题演说后，笔者在与他的简短专访中问道：“在所谓的绿色科技──无论是太阳能光电板或是电池──并非能大幅获利的事业时，将公司的未来押注在环境永续性科技上，是不是风险有点高？”

松下(Panasonic)总裁津贺一宏(Kazuhiro Tsuga)
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对此津贺的回答是：“我所说的并不是将‘环保事业’视为单一产品或技术，并将公司资源押注于其上。”他解释，所谓的绿色科技是“与环保相关(eco-related)”的科技，能应用在所有不同的产品上，会成为具效益的策略：“松下为混合动力车辆与电动车开发的新型空调系统就是一个例子。” 松下开发了一种电源管理系统，能提升电动车电池的效率；此外还开发了一种热管理系统，可降低空调对电动车系统带来的动力负担。津贺补充指出，如果松下没有设计过家用空调系统的经验，就无法达到上述的成果。因此，松下的绿色科技策略唯有能贯穿不同产品领域，才能真正奏效；津贺表示：“我们认为这是一个值得尝试的策略。” 虽然津贺的理由是合乎逻辑的，他的策略在某些西方人眼中可能是有悖常理的。如果松下是一家美商，要让该公司转亏为盈，可能会用的最简单方法就是大刀阔斧斩掉那些表现不佳的业务部门；以外人角度来看，松下有很多部门其实彼此关联性很小。 松下已经裁员1万7,000人，但这个数字还是不够；培育可获利的业务部门应该是津贺的首要任务，而不是继续扶植有问题的事业、甚至试图找到那些部门之间的 协同性。当然，要裁撤那些亏损部门，说比做简单得多，在日本这个国家来说又特别是如此──在当地，留住现有员工被视为一种企业美德。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：松下要退出的市场是……

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{pagination} 津贺也表示，他在CES专题演说中特别提到的许多业务──汽车、航天、白色家电、个人医疗保健产品──仍有获利的潜力。至于电视，他则表示那不再是一种独立业务，而称之为“以基础建设为本的产品(infrastructure-based product)”，因为内容、广播以及服务必须融合才能让电视机运作。相较之下，家电产品是松下能用以获利的“独立(standalone)”产品。 不过电视并非松下将在短期内放弃的业务。津贺指出，消费者还是期望该公司提供最先进的电视机；他补充表示，电视是一个平台，并非独立产品，拥有电视制造能力，能让松下开发新的解决方案与服务。 有一个松下要退出的市场是──手机；在无法于全球智能手机市场取得进展之后，该公司计划大幅缩减在欧洲与日本的手机业务。津贺提及新兴LTE市场的众多不同标准，表示：“那对我们来说负担太大，而且手机产品的毛利太低了。” 在专访中，津贺以令人惊讶的坦率态度回答笔者每一个问题，而他在专题演说时的讲解既流畅又有效率。他显著的能力以及诚意，是否足够已让松下从泥淖中脱身，还有待时间观察。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Yoshida in Vegas: Can green tech save Panasonic?，by Junko Yoshida

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• CES2013：微软禅位高通，各大厂商秀绝活
• 中国电能质量治理市场快步上扬，松下元器件带来改善解决方案
• 传松下停止等离子面板研发，暗示电视产业转型qwPesmc

{pagination} Yoshida in Vegas: Can green tech save Panasonic? Junko Yoshida Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga, girding for another year of huge losses, must find a way to return Japan’s largest consumer electronics company to profitability. LAS VEGAS – Kazuhiro Tsuga, president of Panasonic, is expecting another 10 billion yen net loss for the second straight year. Now he the huge challenge of bringing Japan’s largest consumer electronics company back to profitability. In his keynote speech Tuesday (Jan. 8) at Consumer Electronics Show, Tsuga (left) pitched Panasonic's green tech strategy spanning the company’s sprawling businesses, including automotive, avionics and home appliances. While admirable, this new ambition might only make Tsuga’s job more herculean than it already is. In a brief interview after his keynote speech here, I asked: “At a time when so-called green technology – whether solar panels or battery development – isn’t exactly a big profit-generating business, isn’t it a little too risky to bet the company’s future on a sustainable technology strategy?” Replied Tsuga: "I am not talking about 'eco-business' as a single product/technology category to bet our company on.” Rather, he explained, "eco-related" technology, when applied across different product divisions, can be an effective strategy. “Take a look at a new air conditioning system Panasonic developed for hybrid and electric cars,” Tsuga stressed. The company developed a power management system that improves the efficiency of EV batteries, and a heat management system designed to reduce air conditioning's big power drain on EV systems. Panasonic wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this, however, had it never designed home air conditioning systems, Tsuga added. Hence, Panasonic’s eco-business strategy can only be effective when it’s threaded in different product divisions that find synergies. “We think this is a strategy worth trying,” Tsuga declared. While Tsuga’s reasoning is logical, his strategy might seem counterintuitive to some in the West. If Panasonic was a U.S. company, putting the company’s revenue back on track might be as simple as drastically culling Panasonic’s faltering business divisions. To an outsider, many of Panasonic’s parts seem to bear little relation to one another. It has already cut 17,000 jobs. That probably won’t be enough. Nurturing profitable divisions should be Tusga’s top priority, rather than propping up troubled business units and trying to find synergy among them. Of course, cutting one’s losses is easier said than done. This is especially true in Japan, where sustaining the existing work force is viewed as a corporate virtue. Exiting mobile phones Tsuga also said many of the businesses he highlighted in his CES keynote speech – automotive, avionics, white goods, personal healthcare products – still have the potential to generate profits. As for TVs, he said it is no longer a "standalone" business. Instead, Tsuga calls TV an "infrastructure-based product" because content, broadcast and services must merge to make TV work. In contrast, home appliances are "standalone" products that Panasonic can exploit to generate profit. TV isn’t a business Panasonic is willing to walk away from any time soon. Tsuga said customers expect it to provide state-of-the-art TVs, adding that TV is a platform, not a standalone product. TV manufacturing allows Panasonic to develop new solutions and services, he added. There is one market Panasonic is exiting: mobile phones. It plans to slash much of its mobile business in Europe and Japan after struggling to make any headway in the global smartphone market. Referring to diverging standards in the emerging LTE market, Tsuga added, “That’s too much for us. The margin for mobile handsets is too low.” Tsuga answered every question with striking candor, and his keynote presentation was both smooth and effective. It remains to be seen whether Tsuga’s obvious competence and sincerity will enough to turn around struggling Panasonic.. Panasonic chief Kazuhiro Tsuga on stage at CES 2013 keynote.