JVC concerns for future
 

just read an article on another site. Carl can you shed light on this, it's a little concerning.

I read the same thing, well I hope matsushita thinks about that one, btw I wouldn't post that link or you'll get fried (it's a competitors' site), it happened to me last time.

This is hardly news in the world of big corporations. The unfortunate practice of having multiple diivisions with overlapping products is a characteristic of big conglomerates like Matsushita.
JVC has been around for long enough and it's pervasive enough that "pulling the plug" would be really bad form for any company and would have repercussions that are not easy to prodict. What I see as possible scenarios for this are:

a) Matsushita reorganizes the offering of its companies and removes the overlaps. The sucess of the HD100 and its future offsprings is one case.
b) JVC gets sold to another group.
c) Big layoff time. Restructuring and rationalization of JVC's offering and its company's layout. Removal of unsuccessful products and consequent reduction of personell. This will bring costs down and profit up. Of course, since this is a Japanese company, this can be a little tricky :)
d) All the above.

We try not to "fry" our members (personally I prefer them broiled with lemon sauce :-) But instead of linking to that other site, why not just read the news story from Reuters which it was based on?

http://today.reuters.com/business/ne...MATSUSHITA.xml

true
 

but I don't read the financial sites, i read video sites, thus the link, and hopefully competitor site or not, people would find it of interest. Carl,is there any official statement from JVC regarding this article?
And true, if a company is sold off, it means usually cutting toes(i don't know if this is only an Australian saying, but in means firing people to cut costs) and smarter restructuring. Which will hopefully pass on savings to the masses.
I suppose my worst case scenario concern, was it meant no more JVC period, and their technologies being hocked off to whoever wants it.
It could very well just be speculation, it may only be consumer products, and not prosumer/professional, which by and large won't effect this forum. Just wanted to give the heads up. And maybe have more precision lighting thrown on the subject ....

Live or die, I don't rightly care... as long as I get my HD100 first.

Well you might not want a camera which has no manufacturer support no matter how much you like the camera. Service and parts for the life of the unit do become an issue as well as format support by other suppliers like editing systems and lens manufacturers. It wouldn't be the first time that a company went out of business while creating an interesting product line.

The way I see it, most of the time you can't get support anyways, so what's the difference?

Has no one heard about the new company and seen the prototype camera? Someone actually sent a picture around and I can't believe I'm the only one who's seen it.

Jonathan don't kill us with a statement like that!
 

We always take what you post seriously. Are you saying that JVC has already indicated it's launching as a new entity, and the camera your referring to, is not the HD200/250 right????

Or you just having a lend of us???

And I would never lead you astray or joke with any of you lest I tell you in a subsequent posting, immediately, that I was jesting. Contrary to popular belief, some of us over 30 and yes, 40, still have a great sense of humor. In the case at hand, I received a picture yesterday afternoon and gave it to Mario Genestra to look at because I can't tell if it's real of not. But he as a retired govenrnment secret service agency employee in counterfeiting and now in special EFX (imagine that!) would know. I'll hear from him this morning at 8 when he gets in but a second picture appeared this morning with an inappropriate tagline beneath which leads me to believe it's a hoax. I'll let you know. I almost posted the picture yesterday but pulled it immediately until I know if it's real or not. JVC has enough issues on its hands without fighting this one. And though your obvious question is a good one, it was 9 pm in New Jersey last night when I received the first shot or I would have called them.

I'll post the results later.

What if Matsushita groups Panasonic and JVC together? More workers for Panasonic = :)

A hoax, alas. Great picture and idea but no such camera is planned nor exists even in prototype.

Well, you can always send it to me via email, I can use a laugh :)

The article is talking about JVC as an entire company. JVC has lost a lot of it's market share in consumer electronics especially since it seems to have been based on older technologies (CRTs and traditional stereo equipment). In the pro arena JVC was always fighting an uphill battle but recently has made a big splash with the HD-100. This is comparable to how Panasonic, after years of languishing, became a respected player in the pro market with the DVX100. Unlike Panasonic or Sony, JVC does not have a healthy consumer division at this point and what this means for the professional division is uncertain especially since this news report doesn't breakdown the performances of the various divisions within JVC.

If the pro division is showing vitality it's very unlikely that Matsushita would discontinue the HDV line or the other professional lines. The pro division could certainly be spun off and exist independently (or still under the Matsushita umbrella) as JVC Professional while the consumer divisions are shut down or absorbed into the larger Matsushita structure.

I agree with your guess that it is the consumer division that is being talked about. For decades, Panasonic and JVC released VHS, VHS-C, and DV camcorders that were generally equal. Now they release Plasma and Home Theater electronics. There's no good reason to do so. Why two Blu-ray players?

Now it would seem simple to simply leave the JVC brand and kill the overlapping products. But, for the JVC consumer sales channel, that might leave only a dozen products which would lead to defections.

When I lived in Japan, JVC was considered to be on a par with Sony -- and Matsushita was like GE. So an alternative is to keep the JVC brand and use it like Matsushita did "Techniques." A brand that does the more unique and more slightly expensive products. The HDD based DV (and HDV?)camcorders come to mind.

The JVC pro group has already made the smart move of not duplicating Matsushita pro products. Except for the 5000 series of DV camcorders, almost everything they sell is unique. Moreover, by NOT launching non-tape based products, they keep using their decades of investment in tape transport design. They also follow more of an "open standards" approach which cuts R&D costs. (They use DV -- not DVCAM or DVCPRO.)

They also partner. The HD1/HD10's encoder came from NTT. For all we know the new encoder chip also comes from outside. (Or, like American companies, they may design the chip and have it built by a fab company.) In the future, they could buy chipset's (even from the USA) that are a complete H.264 HD camcorder on a chip. The CMOS they talked of came from outside, too.

All this keeps R&D costs low and lets them focus their engineers on what really counts -- product design for the professional. The HD100 "feels" right, while IMHO, the X1 does not. Because they keep costs low, as long as they keep producing winners, they should be able to make a good profit. Thus, they could remain a separate company like now -- or become a specialty division like JEEP. JEEP makes unique products and it's Name and Image are critical.

So I wouldn't worry about our HD100, etc.

For all you finance types, you can find all of the financial results for JVC at their investor relations site. Read the President's message. He is very frank about the difficulties they have had.

http://www.jvc.co.jp/english/company/ir/index.html

Here's the Cliff Notes version:

Their problems were mainly with the consumer products division. Sales were down due to quality problems with DVD recorders and late product introductions. Fierce competition with digital products also eroded prices and profit margins.

The professional products division was actually pretty stable, although not really a standout. Sales were down slightly about 1% but profits were actually up. Professional products only account for 8% of the JVC's consolidated sales (compared to 74% for consumer products).

JVC is a pretty small player. JVC's entire sales revenue only makes up 7% of its parent company, Matsushita's (Panasonic) consolidated yearly sales. Panasonic AVC Networks (the divisions that make all the consumer and professional A/V electronics) make up 39% of Matsushita sales. That division actually lost money in 2002 but quickly recovered after that.

It's kind of interesting to look at these companies' financial results. It opens your eyes to how slim their profit margins really are when everything is factored in.

Oh heck, it's a great picture so here it is... just so long as no one thinks it's a real camera. It's been making the rounds at the studios. Personally, I'd have addded an AB battery and Focus drive.
J

That picture would only be better if it had the $11,000 wide angle Fujinon lens on it.

When I found out it was a hoax, it was one of those moments when I said, "I wish I'da thought a that!" I've been smilin' about that picture all day. Darn fine idea about the lens, though!

One could only hope that a hybrid like that could occur - it would really be a killer camera for the price. The best of both ...

Hmmm, I guess everyone forgot JVC is supporting LCOS as a viable alternative to DLP and getting great reviews of their products in the Home Theater press. And they are selling lots and lots of hd-100 cameras. Maybe they will be better off getting out of the low end consumer market with it's paper thin margins.

Relax, be happy folks, unless Sony buys them and shuts them down. Oh Sh#t, what a nightmare that would be.

And Jonathon, just what part of "Double Secret Probation" did you not understand????!!!!!!

Sincerely
Dean Wormer

With the workload I'm looking at today starting ....RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!! that was what I needed. Funny! I'll be thinking Wormer all day now.