Japan recently got hit with one of the most powerful earthquakes in its history measuring 8.9 magnitudes on rector scale which caused a great Tsunami. A lot of homes, buildings and cars are being swept off by Tsunami in Japan and thousands of people are still missing. It has affected a lot of industries in Japan and cell phones industry is no exception.
We all know that Japan is one of the leading countries of the world in technology development. Their research and development in this area is huge and is acknowledged by many countries in the world. Tech products whether they are cell phones or home appliances if made by Japan are considered reliable and of high quality by people all around the world. The Tsunami and the earthquake have destroyed a lot of industries in Japan including the cell phones market.
According to some reports Sony Ericsson, the largest cell phones manufacturers in Japan, has already disclosed that it will face severe losses this year due to Tsunami. Its manufacturing units in Japan are facing problems and its supply chain has also been affected deeply. Just like Sony Ericsson other cell phones manufacturers in Japan also forecast a decline in the market. They think that the decline in purchasing power of the people will reduce the sales of cell phones in Japan and the destruction of the infrastructure will create severe problems for them in coming days. Moreover, it is also assumed that the prices of cell phones and other tech products in Japan will increase due to this destruction as companies would be looking forward to generate more revenue from fewer sales.
The effects of Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan will prevail in the cell phones industry in upcoming years as well. The R&D in telecom industry will experience a pause as a major portion of the budget will now be spent on the infrastructure development of North East Japan and to fight against Tsunami in future. With low budget of research and development it will be really tough for Japan to survive in the competitive cell phones industry.
Apart from all this it would be incorrect if we underestimate Japan's capability to rise quickly from all this. It has one of the most skilled manpower in the world and it has proved itself in the past as well. It would be really interesting to see how the cell phones industry in Japan uplifts its self and how the cell phones manufacturers manage to come out of this whole situation and become successful once again.