Why to Be Glad America Isn't Making TVs Anymore

[DragonStryk72]

Why to Be Glad America Isn't Making TVs Anymore By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool (http://www.dailyfinance.com/tag/@motleyfool/) Posted 4:35PM 02/06/12 Technology (http://www.dailyfinance.com/category/technology/), Google (http://www.dailyfinance.com/category/goog/), Sony (http://www.dailyfinance.com/category/sne/), Apple (http://www.dailyfinance.com/category/aapl/)


"The Japanese consumer electronics industry is one of the most prominent industries in the world and is the world's largest electronics manufacturer ..." So begins the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics_industry_in_Japan) on the "electronics industry in Japan."

And you know what we should be saying to that? Good riddance. They can have it.

Despite all the complaining we used to hear in the 1980s about how Japan was "stealing American jobs" and "ruining American manufacturing" -- the same complaints we hear today about China (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/01/25/signs-of-a-new-industrial-age-in-america/) -- it isn't an industry that was worth keeping.

Panic at Panasonic

On Friday, one of the leading lights of Japan's vaunted electronics industry -- Panasonic -- warned that its annual earnings report for 2011, due out in March, is going to contain news of a $10.2 billion loss.

This might come as a surprise to a lot of folks who lamented the loss of America's television manufacturing industry in the 1980s and 1990s. But to anyone who's been following the industry since it moved offshore, it's hardly news that the business of making televisions hasn't exactly been tuning in stellar profit margins.


http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/02/06/why-to-be-glad-america-isnt-making-tvs-anymore/?ncid=webmail21#aol-comments

Okay, so let me get this straight= We should be happy that the Japanese TVs businesses are having so much trouble, but why are they having this problem? Oh yeah, because their largest market is the US, and we don't have jobs. Why don't we? Because we sent almost all of our manufacturing jobs overseas to places China, Taiwan, India, and oh yeah, JAPAN!

Now look, I'm not upset at Japan, they make some pretty quality products, and they just seized on the opportunity we gave them, but when dipshits like this make comments like the above, I just can't help but get a bit pissed off at the sheer lack of brains being used here.

[ConHog]

Holy shit, how could we even compete when 42" LCD TVs are retailing for less than $250? I'm not even sure the Japanese can compete anymore. All that shit seems to be made in China nowadays.

I really expect that shortly we will start seeing "Made in Ethiopia" stamped on our $100 50" 3D TVs.

[pegwinn]

Ya know that the people posting here are old enough to remember when "made in Japan" was a joke, then a nightmare, then just business as usual. My kid approaching 30 has always assumed that Japanese electronics were the only ones worth having.

Made in Ethiopia is the tag on the slimline product series.....

[ConHog]

Ya know that the people posting here are old enough to remember when "made in Japan" was a joke, then a nightmare, then just business as usual. My kid approaching 30 has always assumed that Japanese electronics were the only ones worth having.

Made in Ethiopia is the tag on the slimline product series.....

Yes,m I remember as a kid my dad sold stuff at the Orange County Swap Meet on weekends in CA and some of what he sold was junky little Japanese electronic toys and such.

Same with cars, Japanese cars used to be pure garbage, now it's Korean cars that USED to be garbage, now it the Chinese cars which are getting ready to invade our markets with junk. All the while American quality as barely kept up while prices have soared.


Here is a serious question. Why was it profitable for Honda to move Accord production to the US if the problem is US workers? And they are hardly the only auto manufacture that has found that they can move production to the US and not have any sort of price or quality issues. The only thing they have to do is keep the unions out.

[DragonStryk72]

Yes,m I remember as a kid my dad sold stuff at the Orange County Swap Meet on weekends in CA and some of what he sold was junky little Japanese electronic toys and such.

Same with cars, Japanese cars used to be pure garbage, now it's Korean cars that USED to be garbage, now it the Chinese cars which are getting ready to invade our markets with junk. All the while American quality as barely kept up while prices have soared.


Here is a serious question. Why was it profitable for Honda to move Accord production to the US if the problem is US workers? And they are hardly the only auto manufacture that has found that they can move production to the US and not have any sort of price or quality issues. The only thing they have to do is keep the unions out.

Okay, now some unions are necessary, I get that. However, it's the power of the unions that has gotten out of hand. People do need the ability of collective bargaining, but not what we have now. IMO, I think that we shouldn't have union reps that don't work at the company in a legitimate position. There are too many Reps who have no skin in the game. If they leverage a bad deal, or push harsh demands on the employer, it never comes back on them, because they cannot really be held to judgment.