Panasonic joins Sony in forecasting massive losses

Another Japanese electronics giant has reported stratospheric losses with Panasonic reporting that the firm expects to report a loss of $10 billion.

Following Sony’s expected $2.9 billion annual loss, Panasonic blamed the global economic slowdown, declines in its digital products, European debt crisis and the Thailand floods as we as a sales declines in "digital products."

The scale of the losses of Japanese electronics giants is beyond anything analysts were forecasting and comfortably the largest in history. The fortunes of Japan’s high-tech industries aren’t helped by a high Japanese Yen and a relatively weak Korean Won, assisting rivals in Korea such as Samsung and LG.

"I feel the responsibility for the huge amount," said Panasonic chief Fumio Ohtsubo, apologising for the loss. Unlike Sony, Ohtsubo is not expected to fall on his sword as Sony’s former CEO Howard Stringer.