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Having forecast the worst-ever loss for a Japanese manufacturer, Hitachi's big idea is to separate two loss-makers, flat-panel television sets and auto parts, from the rest of the company.
The company's Panglossian spin is that having them as fully owned subsidiaries will speed up decision-making and make the units more competitive. One might wonder whether all of Hitachi's 900-odd units, which manufacture everything from washing machines to nuclear-power plants, would benefit from a similar separation.
If this is Hitachi's way of inching toward an eventual sale or closure, particularly of the TV unit, the move has some long-term merit.
But Hitachi's own comments on the subject don't inspire much confidence. The company said its plan for the units could include capital tie-ups and alliances with other firms. In Japan, that kind of talk often leads to joint ventures that come back to haunt the parent companies. Renesas Technology, a pairing of Hitachi's unprofitable semiconductor business with that of Mitsubishi Electric, generated a $1.1 billion loss just for Hitachi this year.
A similar fate surely lies in store for any alliance that includes flat-panel TV sets. Like semiconductors, flat panels are an oversupplied and increasingly commoditized market. And the product line is suffocating Hitachi's broader consumer-electronics division, which has had an operating loss in five of the past eight years.
The auto-parts venture, which performed reasonably well until auto sales nosedived last year, has a better track record, but its future depends entirely on a recovery in that market.
Legally separating the companies is the easy step. Whether Hitachi will follow through with the more difficult decision to either close the operations or attempt to sell them is what matters.
因预料将出现有史以来最为严重的亏损，日立公司想出的高招是，将亏损的平板电视机制造厂和汽车配件制造厂从公司的其它业务中剥离出来。
日立公司乐观地认为，让它们成为全资子公司将会加快决策过程，让这两家子公司更具竞争力。人们可能会关心日立的所有900多家子公司是否能从类似的分拆中受益。这些子公司制造从洗衣机到核电站等形形色色的各种产品。
如果这是日立公司逐渐走向最终出售或是关闭这些工厂──尤其是电视机子公司──的道路，那么此举可能带来一些长远的好处。
但日立自身对这个问题的评价并未能带来多少信心。这家公司说，有关这些子公司的计划可能包括同其它机构的资本联合和结盟。在日本，这类说法通常是指建合资企业，而这些合资企业会反过来拖累母公司。日立的半导体业务同三菱电机相同业务组成的合资公司瑞萨科技仅今年就给日立带来了11亿美元的亏损。
包括平板电视机行业在内的任何结盟也显然都面临相同的命运。同半导体一样，平板电视机也是供大于求，越来越商品化的市场。这项业务让日立的整个消费电子产品部门都陷入了绝境：在过去8年里，该部门出现了5年的运营亏损。
汽车配件部门在去年汽车销量滑坡之前的表现还一直不错，但它的未来完全取决于汽车市场的复苏。
从法律意义上分拆这些公司并不困难。真正的问题在于日立是否会继续推行更艰难的决定，关闭或是卖出这些子公司。
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发表于 2016-8-12 16:30:34