It is pretty simple. As Japan lost the consumer electronics maker market they also lost the economies of scale of mass manufacture of the products that are required to make them.
For example Sony used to sell a lot of cameras with lithium ion battery cells. What about now?
What is the latest Panasonic appliance that you have seen let alone bought? Panasonic i.e. Matsushita used to be like the world's #1 consumer electronics maker. And Sony used to be #2.
Sony were the first to market an OLED TV. But then Samsung managed to mass manufacture it and make it in the many millions. Sony never got past the trial stage. It was a niche product and highly expensive.
BYD started out making components for smartphones and laptops. They used to make batteries for mobile devices. They only got into making cars afterwards.
It is all about scale. Mass production can make a product an order of magnitude cheaper. And by selling more units with larger profit per unit you can then pile those profits into R&D to stay ahead.
I would also say that corporate culture also plays a part. In Japan you don't knock on someone else's business. For example, why couldn't have Sony or Panasonic just made an electric car themselves? Because of Japanese corporate culture. They are electronics makers and that would be intruding on someone else's market. In China this is much less of an issue. BYD also had an advantage in that there was no car company in Shenzhen so they had a lot of local government support.
For example Sony used to sell a lot of cameras with lithium ion battery cells. What about now?
What is the latest Panasonic appliance that you have seen let alone bought? Panasonic i.e. Matsushita used to be like the world's #1 consumer electronics maker. And Sony used to be #2.
Sony were the first to market an OLED TV. But then Samsung managed to mass manufacture it and make it in the many millions. Sony never got past the trial stage. It was a niche product and highly expensive.
BYD started out making components for smartphones and laptops. They used to make batteries for mobile devices. They only got into making cars afterwards.
It is all about scale. Mass production can make a product an order of magnitude cheaper. And by selling more units with larger profit per unit you can then pile those profits into R&D to stay ahead.
I would also say that corporate culture also plays a part. In Japan you don't knock on someone else's business. For example, why couldn't have Sony or Panasonic just made an electric car themselves? Because of Japanese corporate culture. They are electronics makers and that would be intruding on someone else's market. In China this is much less of an issue. BYD also had an advantage in that there was no car company in Shenzhen so they had a lot of local government support.
Last edited:
