After all, the sister label of Kate Spade New York began
developing the brand with Japanese consumers in mind more than
three years ago, envisaging functional designs that would strike
a chord with on-the-go urbanites and expand the original brand’s
DNA into a more casual realm.

Kate Spade Saturday opened its first store in Tokyo’s trendy
Harajuku district earlier this month and another in Osaka last
week, and plans to have a total of five Japan stores open by
June. Following the Japan launch, it also debuted in the United
States via an online store and is eyeing a push into other
international markets later this year.

“Because this brand’s concept originated in Japan and we
really wanted to make the brand global, we felt Tokyo was the
perfect city to launch the brand,” Ayako Yanagisawa, president
of Kate Spade Japan, told Reuters in an interview at the
company’s offices in Harajuku.

“I think Tokyo is a very interesting city for the fashion
industry to try out a new brand. The market is mature enough to
receive, and digest, and understand new creativity. There is
also a wide age range of people who like fashion in this city,”
she said.

“It can be a real showcase for the Asian market.”

Tokyo has served as an overseas launch point in recent years
for several brands, including designers Rebecca Minkoff and
Tracy Reese. Both the Rebecca Minkoff and Tracy Reese brands
showed at the Tokyo Runway fashion show Wednesday held in
conjunction with Japan Fashion Week.

TRENDSETTERS

Kate Spade New York, owned by Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc,
is known for the splashy colours and bold prints of its
designer handbags, clothing and accessories. It competes with
brands like Coach and Michael Kors in the attainable luxury
category.

Kate Spade Saturday skews slightly younger, more casual, and
less expensive than the New York label.

Yanagisawa said both the Japanese and U.S. sides of the
company were involved in the development of the Saturday brand
from the onset, and the design of several products reflects
Japanese consumers’ love for functionality and detail.

Its Half-Circle Bag, which goes for 19,845 yen ($210)
online, can be worn over the shoulder or around the waist, and
the strap can even be worn as a belt. Its Square Tote, at 17,325
yen ($180), has two side pockets that can be used to hold
folding umbrellas – a must-have for Japanese urban life – or
just as easily a bottle of wine to take to a party.

Japan is Kate Spade’s biggest market outside the United
States and the company aims to increase the number of its
Japanese stores – including New York, Saturday and its Jack
Spade men’s brand – to between 85 and 105 in 2016, from 54 in
2012.

“The Japanese retail market still has room to grow,”
Yanagisawa said, noting that so-called fashion buildings, often
built adjacent to or above train stations, were a big draw for
women in their 20s and 30s even as traditional department store
sales drop off.

Japan’s young trendsetters are starting to take notice.

“Everyone has a Kate Spade iPhone case,” said Kyoko Oyamada,
a 21-year-old university student in Tokyo sporting a black
leather Kate Spade handbag. “I thought they were cute so I went
to check out the bags myself and found one I wanted.”

“When it comes to competing, of course I don’t want to lose to the younger two,” grinned Kazuhito Tanaka, 27, referring to his sister Rie and brother Yusuke.

“I’d lose my standing as the big brother,” he told reporters after a recent training session ahead of the trip to London, where all three siblings will make their Olympics debut.

It is rare for two siblings to become top-tier athletes, three is even rarer. This will be the first time Japan sends three siblings to compete in gymnastics at the Olympics.

For the Tanakas, whose parents were also gymnasts and their father a coach, a common dream and strong work ethic runs in the family, 25-year-old Rie told reporters at a separate practice session.

“The bond we have through hard work is really strong. And since we were little, we all wanted to go to the Olympics,” said Rie, who is captain of the Japanese women’s team.

Kazuhito was the first to follow in their parents’ footsteps and take up the sport as a child. Rie became interested after watching her big brother train, while Yusuke, 22, started because he did not want to be home alone bored.

Despite being such a family of gymnasts, their father went to surprising lengths to keep the sport from becoming too much of a focus in their home life, easing the pressure and helping them learn to appreciate gymnastics on their own.

“Our dad even made a rule that we couldn’t talk about gymnastics at home,” said Rie, who won her first national title in April.

“It was like being in any other home in that we’d pretty much forget about gymnastics with the conversations we were having,” she said.

‘RISING TO THE CHALLENGE’

Kazuhito, also a captain, will lead the men in their quest to recapture the team gold, which they won in Athens in 2004 before taking silver in 2008 in Beijing.

He said he took heart from having his brother on the same team, but he puts his focus squarely on the squad once they hit the gymnasium, with everyone on equal footing.

“I try to think of Yusuke more as a team mate than a brother, and I feel a sense of encouragement from no matter who my team mate is,” he said.

In the individual categories, the men will be looking to win their first gold medal since 1984, with Kohei Uchimura, who has won three consecutive world all-around titles, seen as a strong contender.

Uchimura came close four years ago, having won silver in the all-around in Beijing.

While the women have won only one medal, Japan’s female athletes have enjoyed a recent string of successes, most notably the women’s soccer team winning last year’s World Cup, and Rie is hoping some of the magic will rub off on her squad.

“We (Japanese women) are strong at rising to the challenge,” said Rie, who noted she was more excited than nervous about competing in the Olympics.

“We’ll use that strength as a weapon to do our best.”

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

“When it comes to competing, of course I don’t want to lose
to the younger two,” grinned Kazuhito Tanaka, 27, referring to
his sister Rie and brother Yusuke.

“I’d lose my standing as the big brother,” he told reporters
after a recent training session ahead of the trip to London,
where all three siblings will make their Olympics debut.

It is rare for two siblings to become top-tier athletes,
three is even rarer. This will be the first time Japan sends
three siblings to compete in gymnastics at the Olympics.

For the Tanakas, whose parents were also gymnasts and their
father a coach, a common dream and strong work ethic runs in the
family, 25-year-old Rie told reporters at a separate practice
session.

“The bond we have through hard work is really strong. And
since we were little, we all wanted to go to the Olympics,” said
Rie, who is captain of the Japanese women’s team.

Kazuhito was the first to follow in their parents’ footsteps
and take up the sport as a child. Rie became interested after
watching her big brother train, while Yusuke, 22, started
because he did not want to be home alone bored.

Despite being such a family of gymnasts, their father went
to surprising lengths to keep the sport from becoming too much
of a focus in their home life, easing the pressure and helping
them learn to appreciate gymnastics on their own.

“Our dad even made a rule that we couldn’t talk about
gymnastics at home,” said Rie, who won her first national title
in April.

“It was like being in any other home in that we’d pretty
much forget about gymnastics with the conversations we were
having,” she said.

‘RISING TO THE CHALLENGE’

Kazuhito, also a captain, will lead the men in their quest
to recapture the team gold, which they won in Athens in 2004
before taking silver in 2008 in Beijing.

He said he took heart from having his brother on the same
team, but he puts his focus squarely on the squad once they hit
the gymnasium, with everyone on equal footing.

“I try to think of Yusuke more as a team mate than a
brother, and I feel a sense of encouragement from no matter who
my team mate is,” he said.

In the individual categories, the men will be looking to win
their first gold medal since 1984, with Kohei Uchimura, who has
won three consecutive world all-around titles, seen as a strong
contender.

Uchimura came close four years ago, having won silver in the
all-around in Beijing.

While the women have won only one medal, Japan’s female
athletes have enjoyed a recent string of successes, most notably
the women’s soccer team winning last year’s World Cup, and Rie
is hoping some of the magic will rub off on her squad.

“We (Japanese women) are strong at rising to the challenge,”
said Rie, who noted she was more excited than nervous about
competing in the Olympics.

“We’ll use that strength as a weapon to do our best.”

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

“After I put on the makeup, it’s like a switch has been turned on for competing,” Airi Hatakeyama, 17, said at an event opened to media to showcase the team’s makeup art and new uniforms.

“It makes me feel like I’m in performance mode and puts me up to the challenge,” she told Reuters as a makeup artist applied bright red lipstick and eye liner to highlight her features.

Rhythmic gymnastics, a combination of traditional gymnastics and dance in which performers use ribbons, hoops and other apparatus, is well known for the gymnasts’ flamboyant costumes and dramatic makeup, similar to in ballet.

The Japanese team aims for its makeup to be visible as far as 15 meters away (about 50 feet), the distance at which the judges sit, and accentuates the corner of the eyes with a “fairy line” to give the impression of fluttering fairy wings.

Another key is applying liquid foundation and makeup that is resistant to sweat as the gymnasts perform their routines, which require not only grace but extreme flexibility, strength and balance.

London will mark Japan’s third Olympic appearance in rhythmic gymnastics which made its debut in 1984.

Japan has yet to win a medal in the sport and will face tough competition from the likes of Russia, who took gold in the previous three Olympics.

Team captain Kotono Tanaka, 20, who made her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008, told a news conference she would draw on her experience to help the team prepare in their quest for their first medal.

Japan also has an extra incentive to win for a country that just a year ago was reeling from a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated its northeast coast and caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

“I’m also from the northeast and my memories of it are really strong,” said Natsuki Fukase, 18, wearing the team’s pink musical-note themed uniform.

“We want to give top performances at the Olympics to bring smiles to Japanese people’s faces and give them energy,” she said.

(Editing by Alison Wildey)

“After I put on the makeup, it’s like a switch has been
turned on for competing,” Airi Hatakeyama, 17, said at an event
opened to media to showcase the team’s makeup art and new
uniforms.

“It makes me feel like I’m in performance mode and puts me
up to the challenge,” she told Reuters as a makeup artist
applied bright red lipstick and eye liner to highlight her
features.

Rhythmic gymnastics, a combination of traditional gymnastics
and dance in which performers use ribbons, hoops and other
apparatus, is well known for the gymnasts’ flamboyant costumes
and dramatic makeup, similar to in ballet.

The Japanese team aims for its makeup to be visible as far
as 15 metres away (about 50 feet), the distance at which the
judges sit, and accentuates the corner of the eyes with a “fairy
line” to give the impression of fluttering fairy wings.

Another key is applying liquid foundation and makeup that is
resistant to sweat as the gymnasts perform their routines, which
require not only grace but extreme flexibility, strength and
balance.

London will mark Japan’s third Olympic appearance in
rhythmic gymnastics which made its debut in 1984.

Japan has yet to win a medal in the sport and will face
tough competition from the likes of Russia, who took gold in the
previous three Olympics.

Team captain Kotono Tanaka, 20, who made her Olympic debut
in Beijing in 2008, told a news conference she would draw on her
experience to help the team prepare in their quest for their
first medal.

Japan also has an extra incentive to win for a country that
just a year ago was reeling from a massive earthquake and
tsunami that devastated its northeast coast and caused the
world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

“I’m also from the northeast and my memories of it are
really strong,” said Natsuki Fukase, 18, wearing the team’s pink
musical-note themed uniform.

“We want to give top performances at the Olympics to bring
smiles to Japanese people’s faces and give them energy,” she
said.

(Editing by Alison Wildey)

Fans swarmed around the red carpet in Tokyo’s posh Roppongi Hills area for a glimpse of Garfield, co-star Emma Stone and other cast members as a stuntman dressed as Spider-Man swung over the crowd, then scaled a wall into a large “web.”

Garfield, who plays Peter Parker said the role had appealed for many reasons.

“Spider-Man has always been the only teenage superhero, and the most human one in my humble opinion, and that’s just one of the things that sets him apart,” he told Reuters.

“He’s all too human, that’s what’s wonderful about him.”

The Amazing Spider-Man, which opens on limited release in Japan on June 23 and hits North American theaters on July 3, reboots the franchise that started in 2002 with Tobey Maguire in the lead role.

Now it is Garfield, 28, who dons Spider-Man’s famous red-and-blue suit in a story that explores the origins of teenager Peter Parker and how he became a superhero.

Stone, who portrays Gwen Stacy, Parker’s first love interest and has been linked romantically with Garfield off-screen, said the change offered fresh perspective on the tale.

“New love interest, the story of Peter’s life, there’s a lot of stuff to learn about Peter Parker,” said Stone, 23, who wore a burgundy dress.

“He’s a real underdog, and he’s bullied, and I think everyone can relate … He’s an incredibly inspirational character.”

Among the changes was the use of 3D, made possible due to recent advances in technology, said producer Matt Tolmach at a news conference earlier in the day.

“In so many ways, what’s magical about Spider-Man is that we all identify with this character – he’s all of us, he’s everyman. So what would it feel like if you could experience flight, and sailing through the city, what it feels like to swing on a web through New York?” he said.

“It was very, very clear to all of us that this is a movie that was meant to be told in 3D. 3D is a form of storytelling, not just a way to sell the movie to audiences.”

Japan has proved to be a strong draw for the Spider-Man movies. It was the top overseas market for the first two movies, according to Box Office Mojo, and Spider-Man 3 premiered in Tokyo in 2007.

“I came to see Emma, she’s gorgeous,” said Keita Fukushima, 23, who said he was interested in seeing the new Gwen Stacy role. Mary Jane Watson had been Parker’s girlfriend in the other movies.

But eight-year-old Yu Suguro, who wore a red Spider-Man costume, was there for his hero. “I love Spider-Man,” he said.

Though Garfield said at the news conference that being named Spider-Man gave him “the purest joy you could ever feel,” he added that the role was not without difficulties.

“When I put on the suit, I got very itchy and uncomfortable, and it took me a long time to go to the restroom.”

(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Chris Gallagher; editing by)

Elpida filed for bankruptcy protection in February with 448 billion yen ($5.6 billion) in liabilities – a record for a Japanese manufacturer – after being hit by a strong yen and a slide in prices of DRAM chips for personal computers.

Suitors were likely interested in the chips Elpida manufactures for smartphones and tablets, analysts have said.

In the final round of bidding that closed on Friday, U.S. chipmaker Micron offered around 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion) and pledged to keep the company’s main Hiroshima plant and employees, NHK reported without citing sources.

Micron and Elpida are expected to finalize a deal as early as this month and submit a restructuring plan to the courts by August, the broadcaster said.

South Korea’s SK hynix said earlier on Friday that it had dropped out of the race to buy Elpida. TPG Capital LP and China’s Hony Capital had intended to place a joint bid for Elpida in the final bidding round, sources told Reuters previously.

TPG and Elpida declined to comment. Officials for Micron and Hony were not immediately available for comment on the report.

SK hynix decided to pull out as the deal would not “strategically benefit” the company, SK Group’s Chairman Chey Tae-won told reporters after a board meeting.

The withdrawal sent the shares of the South Korean chipmaker to a two-week high.

The final bidding follows protests by a group of Elpida debt holders who said they may thwart the auction if Elpida’s trustees agree to a reported selling price of 150 billion yen.

The bond holders said they could submit a rival reorganization plan if the bankruptcy trustees agreed to a low-ball bid that would “unintentionally transfer great value to the winning sponsor.”

Elpida is the world’s No.3 maker of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, trailing Samsung Electronics and SK hynix with a market share of around 12 percent.

Shares in SK hynix jumped as much as 6.1 percent to 28,900 won on Friday, the highest since April 19. The stock closed at 28,150 won, up 3.3 percent, compared with a 0.3 percent fall in the wider market.

SK hynix last month posted an operating loss of 260 billion won ($227.8 million) for the three months ended March, its third straight quarterly loss, as tumbling prices of DRAM chips eroded earnings of chipmakers including Elpida.

Prices of DRAM chips used in personal computers have declined due to slower PC sales. Consumers are increasingly switching to tablets and smartphones that use mobile DRAM and NAND-type flash memory chips.

SK hynix said last month it expected DRAM chip prices to rebound from the second quarter, helped by reduced supply from troubled makers including Elpida.

Elpida reported losses for five straight quarters, and its failure was the largest for a Japanese manufacturer ever. ($1 = 80.3800 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Junko Fujita)

The Sony veteran, in his first public briefing as CEO, also targeted new business in medical equipment and electric car batteries, and set a target for group sales of 8.5 trillion yen (65 billion pounds) in two years, with an operating margin of more than 5 percent.

Hirai, who took over from Howard Stringer this month, is under pressure to turn around an ailing consumer electronics giant hobbled by TV losses and trampled by today’s gadget leaders Apple and Samsung Electronics

“I am determined to transform and revive Sony. This is our only chance to change,” Hirai told a packed news conference at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, close to where the company established its first factory 65 years ago.

Hirai came armed with a slew of numerical targets aimed at easing investor concern over mounting losses. Sony expects to have slumped to a record $6.4 billion (4.0 billion pounds) loss in the year just ended.

Sony and Japan’s two other major TV makers, Sharp Corp and Panasonic Corp, have been battered by weak demand, fierce competition and a profit-sapping strong yen that threatens the viability of Japan’s once-mighty television industry.

The three firms expect a combined annual loss of $21 billion (13 billion pounds) – more than Sony’s entire market value, which has slumped by close to a fifth in the past month. Samsung is 10 times more valuable, while Apple, which Sony executives considered buying in the early 1990s, is worth 30 Sony’s.

“Sony’s fundamental problem is that it has lost its competitiveness,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager of research at SBI Securities.

Hirai confirmed media reports that Sony will cut 10,000 jobs – 6 percent of its global workforce – and take a 75 billion yen ($926 million) restructuring charge this business year. The cuts follow two rounds of layoffs during Stringer’s six-year tenure.

“We cannot shy away from difficult decisions,” he said.

HUB DEVICE

Hirai, who previously revived the PlayStation video gaming unit, said he wanted to make Sony a leading player in mobile phones, which would be a “hub device” for the mobile business. He aims to treble revenue to 1.8 trillion yen (13.9 billion pounds) over the next three business years.

Sony recently bought out Ericsson’s half of their smartphone venture for $1.5 billion (939.9 million pounds) to shore up its position in an increasingly crowded market where Apple and Samsung lead. It has since launched its first smartphones, the Xperia series, under the Sony brand.

Sony will also look to increase sales of cameras and other digital imaging devices by a third to 1.5 trillion yen and raise revenue at the games division by around a fifth to 1 trillion yen over three years.

In February, Hirai had outlined a vision to widen the PlayStation gaming console online network to integrate all Sony devices, replacing the three online content delivery platforms it currently operates.

For the television business, which has racked up $10 billion (6 billion pounds) in losses in 8 years, Hirai aims to cut fixed costs by 60 percent and operating costs by 30 percent over two years. Sony will offer fewer models. Hirai pointed to possible cooperation with other TV makers in the next generation of flat screens.

A Sony executive previously told Reuters that Sony may forge a grand alliance with Sharp and Panasonic, combining their set making divisions with the backing of a Japanese government eager to safeguard jobs.

There is a precedent in Japan Display, a company two thirds owned by the taxpayer that combines Sony’s small LCD operations with those of Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd.

“We are looking at a number of possibilities, but there are other parties to consider. At this moment, there’s not anything I can share,” Hirai said when asked about such an alliance.

NOT AGGRESSIVE ENOUGH

Investors said they had hoped for more meat on the bones of Hirai’s plans.

“I can’t make out a growth story here. It’s good they’ve announced numerical targets, but you can’t tell how they’re going to achieve them,” said Kikuchi Makoto, CEO of Myojo Asset Management.

“It doesn’t feel like an aggressive makeover,” said Tetsuro Ii, president of Commons Asset Management, who oversees $33 million (20 million pounds) of assets and doesn’t hold Sony stock. “You can’t really see the roadmap for how they’re going to revive the electronics business, nor how they’re going to create new value.”

Eyeing new opportunities in the fast-growing medical business, Sony is targeting annual sales of 50 billion yen in 2014/15, eventually doubling to around $1.2 billion (751.9 million pounds), and is scouting for acquisitions and other strategic investments. It will also look for potential partners to make batteries for electric vehicles.

“Expanding in medical and electric vehicles is good because these businesses have better margins and they’re areas that Japan is good at,” said Michael On, managing director at Beyond Asset Management.

Sony is one of several potential partners that have been linked with disgraced medical equipment maker Olympus Corp, which has a 70 percent share of the global market for diagnostic endoscopes and needs to shore up its finances after a $1.7 billion (1 billion pounds) accounting fraud.

“It appears Sony is trying to expand into new businesses where it’s more likely to compete better with the likes of Samsung,” said Lee Sun-Tae, analyst at NH Investment & Securities in Seoul. “Sony has already lost its dominance in its traditional markets such as TVs and it won’t be easy for them to fight back and regain market share in these areas.”

Sony shares closed 0.9 percent higher at 1,528 yen on Thursday ahead of the briefing. The benchmark Nikkei average ended up 0.7 percent.

In Germany, Sony securities traded nearly 2 percent higher.

(Additional reporting by Mari Saito, Sophie Knight and Daiki Iga in TOKYO, Clare Jim in TAIPEI and Miyoung Kim in SEOUL.; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

After a brief honeymoon since taking over from Howard Stringer this month, Hirai this week doubled Sony’s annual loss forecast to a record $6.4 billion, and is under pressure to fix an ailing TV unit and turn around a brand that has been trampled on by consumer gadget leaders Apple Inc and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

“We have heard a multitude of investor voices calling for change,” Hirai told a packed news conference at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, close to the company’s first factory established 65 years ago. “Sony will change.”

“Sony has always been an entrepreneurial company. That spirit has not changed,” he said.

In a statement ahead of the briefing, Sony said it would post a restructuring charge of about 75 billion yen ($926 million) in the year to March 2013, and aims to cut its fixed costs in the TV business by 60 percent in the 2013/14 business year from this year’s levels, and trim 30 percent off the business’ operating costs.

Eyeing new business opportunities in the fast-growing medical business, Sony said it was targeting annual sales of 50 billion yen ($617 million) in that sector in 2014/15, and was scouting for acquisitions and other strategic investments.

The job cuts follow two rounds of layoffs Stringer made in his six-year tenure at Sony. Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato noted earlier this week that around 5,000 workers would come off the Sony payroll with the sale of a chemicals business and a small liquid crystal display fabricator.

Sony, and other leading Japanese TV makers Sharp Corp and Panasonic Corp have been battered by weak demand, fierce competition and a stronger yen that makes exports less competitive.

The three companies expect a combined loss for the year just ended of $21 billion – more than Sony’s entire market value, which has slumped by close to a fifth in the past month. Samsung is 10 times more valuable, while Apple, which Sony executives considered buying in the early 1990s, is worth 30 Sony’s.

“Japan’s consumer electronics industry is facing defeat,” Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management, said earlier this week.

Late last month, Hirai, a 26-year Sony veteran, revealed his management team and a rejigged business structure, with him taking a more active role in the day-to-day operations than Stringer. He eliminated his old job as head of consumer products, and put himself in charge of home entertainment, overseeing the money-losing TV business.

All heads of Sony’s 14 business units – from semiconductors to mobile communications, music and medical – report directly to the CEO.

Hirai had vowed to take “painful steps”, insisting he wouldn’t shy away from weeding out poorly performing businesses or making cuts to bolster profitability.

Sony shares closed 0.9 percent higher at 1,528 yen on Thursday ahead of the briefing. The benchmark Nikkei average ended up 0.7 percent. ($1 = 80.9950 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise in LONDON and Nathan Layne in TOKYO; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Sharp Corp (6753.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan’s last big maker of TV liquid crystal displays, and local rival Panasonic Corp (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), also fell.

Sony on Tuesday more than doubled its loss forecast to a record $6.4 billion, while Sharp added $1.24 billion to its loss estimate for the year to end-March.

Combined, Japan’s three tech giants expect to lose $21 billion for the 12 months just ended, roughly the size of Sony’s entire market value.

The three companies have been outgunned by more innovative rivals such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), while a strong yen and tumbling TV prices have exposed a yawning performance gap with their foreign rivals.

Their current predicament could ironically draw some parallels to their 1980s heyday, when previously dominant U.S. consumer electronics makers such as Zenith struggled to make money amid low TV prices and were overtaken by a more cost-efficient Japan Inc.

Now, it is South Korean firms Samsung and LG Electronics (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) that lead the industry.

“Japan’s consumer electronics industry is facing defeat,” said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management. Even Wednesday’s share battering is not enough to add appeal to Sony’s stock, he added.

By around 0430 GMT, Sony shares were down 5.3 percent at 1,502 yen after earlier dropping to a 2-month low of 1,473 yen – on track for their biggest one-day fall since early November.

Sharp was 3.6 percent lower at 511 yen, with Panasonic down 2.5 percent at 654 yen. The main Nikkei average .N225 was down 1.2 percent.

GLUED TO SONY TVs

Investors’ attention on Thursday will turn to Sony’s plans for its ailing television business as new CEO Kazuo Hirai lays out his revival strategy. Media reports this week said Sony would cut 10,000 jobs – around 6 percent of its global workforce – as part of its turnaround bid.

“We still regard downsizing and product strategies worthy of the Sony brand as indispensable preconditions of any share price upside,” Nomura Holdings analyst Shiro Mikoshiba wrote in a client note.

Hirai, who has vowed to get the division that makes Bravia TVs back to profit within two years, has insisted that television remains at the heart of a strategy for a seamless integration with mobile phones, tablet computers and other gadgets. He said in February he would widen the PlayStation gaming console online network to encompass all Sony’s devices.

The company that took the TV market by storm with its Trinitron sets four decades ago, now expects a record net loss of 520 billion yen for the year ended March 31, hit by the write-off of tax credits that losses prevent it from using – a fourth straight year in the red.

While not an issue of core profitability – it kept its forecast for a 95 billion yen operating loss – it nonetheless raises questions about the company’s financial standing by cutting its shareholder equity ratio to 15 percent from 17.2 percent at the end last year, according to Reuters data.

Sony’s chief financial officer Masaru Kato said on Tuesday that equity finance was one option for Sony, but he added there are no current plans to raise cash.

“At the moment, Sony would not be sustainable without restructuring, and we recognise Sony is heading in the right direction with its efforts. In the meantime, we also need to confirm the depth of its restructuring going forward,” Masashi Oda, general manager of the equity investment department at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Sony’s largest investor, said in an e-mailed reply to a Reuters query.

“We believe the revival of Sony entirely depends on the improvement of profitability in its core manufacturing business.”

SHARP AND PANASONIC

Sharp, the maker of Aquos TVs, increased its full-year net loss forecast to 380 billion yen from a previous 290 billion yen, as it wrestles with ways to utilize more capacity at its $4 billion LCD plant in Sakai in western Japan amid a global glut of panels that has squeezed prices.

“We recognise that our outlook was optimistic,” Tetsuo Onishi, an executive managing officer at Sharp, told reporters in Osaka on Tuesday.

In a bid to distance itself from losses at Japan’s most advanced LCD plant, Sharp last month sold a 46.48 percent stake in the facility to Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which also agreed to buy new Sharp shares worth 66.9 billion yen giving it an 11 percent stake in the Japanese company.

On Tuesday, it also revealed plans to further trim its stake in Sakai, saying it started talks with suppliers Toppan Printing (7911.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Dai Nippon Printing (7912.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) about selling more of the factory.

Panasonic has so far stuck to a February forecast for a record 780 billion yen net loss for the fiscal year just ended. Much of that red ink is the result of restructuring charges meant to put the sprawling electronics conglomerate on a firmer earnings footing.

Panasonic, which shed around 17,000 jobs in the business year, trimmed its forecast for the number of flat-screen TVs it sold by 1 million to 18 million sets.

By 2015, annual global sales of liquid crystal TVs will contract by 8 percent to $92 billion, according to flat panel industry research company DisplaySearch. Plasma sets, a market that Panasonic dominates, will shrink 38 percent to $7 billion.

Over 10 years, Panasonic has racked up a cumulative loss of 454 billion yen.

($1 = 80.9100 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and Mari Saito; Editing by Michael Watson and Alex Richardson)