Japan's Victor to reshape TV operations

TOKYO — Victor Co. of Japan has decided to reshape its money-losing TV business, with details to be announced later this month, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

Victor spokesman Toshiya Ogata declined to comment on a report Wednesday in The Nikkei that said Victor will stop making and selling its flat-panel, liquid-crystal-display TVs in Japan. He acknowledged such steps are under consideration.

That would make Victor, Japan's sixth biggest flat-panel maker, the first major Japanese manufacturer to drop out of the Japanese TV market. The Nikkei said Victor will continue to make and sell TVs for the North American, European and other overseas markets.

Victor, also known as JVC, has been struggling to stay competitive as rapid price drops make survival more difficult for flat-panel TV makers.

On Tuesday, Victor forecast it would lose 47.8 billion yen ($470.5 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31. That's worse than the 32.5 billion yen ($319.9 million) loss it had forecast in January.

Much of the red ink comes from its troubled TV operations, Ogata said.

Other Japanese electronics makers have been forced to halt their panel production or enter tie-ups with rivals.

Last month, Pioneer Corp. said it will stop making plasma display panels and possibly start buying them from Japanese rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the maker of Panasonic products.

Pioneer had already announced last year that it would tie-up with another Japanese maker, Sharp Corp., to procure liquid crystal displays.

Earlier this year, Sony Corp. said it will invest in a Sharp plant for making liquid crystal displays to ensure supply of the panels.

Sony buys liquid crystal display panels from Samsung, and the deal with Sharp came on top of that. Sony does not make its own LCD panels.

In December, Matsushita, Hitachi Ltd. and Canon Inc. announced a tie-up in their liquid crystal display businesses. Their announcement came shortly after Toshiba Corp. said it would buy panels from Sharp.

Victor is 36.8 percent owned by Matsushita and 17.1 percent owned by Kenwood Corp.

Victor shares gained 11.6 percent to 231 yen ($2.27) in Tokyo following The Nikkei report.

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