Panasonic predicts record $10 billion annual loss

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President Fumio Ohtsubo has already announced structural reforms and job cuts in the face of the biggest losses in the company's history

Panasonic Factory

Panasonic has widened its annual net-loss forecast to $10.2 billion, the largest loss in the company's 94 year history.

President Fumio Ohtsubo has already announced structural reforms alongside plans to revive its TV business, as we reported earlier this week.

Declining sales across the world were exarcebated by the earthquake in Japan and the floods in Thailand, which both badly affected plants and their suppliers.

Panasonic's forecast losses have been mirrored in recent financial announcements by Hitachi, Sharp and Sony, who announced a quarterly loss of £1.3bn.

For the three months ending December 31st, Panasonic reported a net loss of 197.6 billion yen, part of the annual net-loss forecast of 780 billion yen ($10.2bn).

The company is set to make changes to its TV business, dropping less profitable sizes and aiming to halve production costs.

After purchasing Sanyo, Panasonic is also looking to expand its solar power and rechargeable battery businesses.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).