T R E N D S
Panasonic to exit plasma TV business
Abenomics
Nelson Mandela dies
Electronics giant Panasonic will close its plasma screen factory in Amagasaki and put it up for sale in 2014 as part of a huge corporate overhaul. Panasonic’s plasma TV division made huge losses in recent years and other electronics companies, such as Hitachi and Pioneer, have already pulled out of the sector. In its last financial year, the division made a loss of 754 billion yen following sluggish demand mainly in Japan. The Japanese electronics industry is going through tough times at present on account of strong Korean competition.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has spearheaded “Abenomics” to rejuvenate its economy and Japan, as a result, was one of the best performing stock markets in 2013. No longer is it a perennial disappointment and the country’s economy is certainly out of the doldrums, the latest consumer price inflation figures showing the highest reading since the country slipped into deflation 15 years ago.
The passing of South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was one of the lowlights of 2013. The 95-year-old had been receiving home-based medical care after being discharged from hospital in September following a near three month stay where he was treated for a recurring lung infection. He spent 27 years behind bars for opposing white rule in his country before becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994. In a statement on South African national TV, President Jacob Zuma said his country had “lost its greatest son”.
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