Hitachi Ltd. is showing Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. that there can be life after TV.
The company ended 56 years of TV manufacturing in August as part of a turnaround from a record loss three years ago. President Hiroaki Nakanishi, a 42-year company veteran, has also shed units making liquid-crystal displays and hard drives while seeking annual cost cuts of some ¥450 billion.
Outsourcing TV production let Hitachi escape rising South Korean competition and slumping prices that have hit Panasonic, Sony and Sharp Corp. with growing losses. Instead, the 102-year-old manufacturer is benefiting from demand for power stations in India, high-speed trains in Europe and auto parts in China.
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