JETRO Los Angeles Newsletter

JETRO LA Newsletter - January 2005

News from JETRO:

JETRO “BIZMATCH” OPPORTUNITY
at CTIA WIRELESS 2005!
(March 13-16, 2005) New Orleans, USA

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) offers you a rare opportunity to meet with some of Japan’s top-ranked wireless companies seeking technology partnerships with U.S. companies. If you will be attending the “CTIA WIRELESS 2005” March 13-16 at New Orleans’, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center please consider participating in our JETRO’s BIZ MATCH event which will include major companies such as NTT DoCoMo and many others. Key industries targeted include: WiFi A, B, G, WiMax, UWB. You can’t afford to miss this unique opportunity!

We welcome all those interested in pursuing technology partnerships with Japan’s major wireless companies at this conference. The process is simple and straightforward: As soon as we receive, review and access your company profile and potential, JETRO will forward this information to all registered participating Japanese companies. Based on their response and comments, meetings will be scheduled and coordinated to take into consideration each company’s availability. There is no charge for our services and we greatly encourage your active participation. The application deadline is Feb. 11, 2005.

For more information, please feel free to contact Christopher Baker, (213) 624-8855 ext. 121 or email: christopher_baker@jetro.go.jp

For more information, please visit: http://www.jetrolosangeles.org/bizmatch2005.asp

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Other News:

Japan America Society 96th Birthday Reception
and Toyota PRIUS Drawing!
(February 22, 2005)

Immediately following the JASSC Annual Members Meeting, you are invited to join the leadership and fellow Members and friends of the Japan America Society to celebrate the organization's 96th Birthday!

This special reception will conclude with the Toyota PRIUS Opportunity Drawing!

Toyota Motor Sales USA has generously donated a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle for an Opportunity Drawing benefiting the Japan America Society of Southern California! This is your chance to win one of the most popular vehicles on the road and Motor Trend's "Car of the Year." Support the Society by purchasing your chance to win today! Each ticket's odds of winning are 1 in 2005.

Drawing will take place on February 22, 2005 at the 96th Birthday Reception of JASSC. The reception is generously hosted by The New Otani Hotel & Garden, Los Angeles. Winner need not be present. All entries must be received by February 17, 2005.

For more information and complete Rules and Regulations of the Toyota Prius Opportunity Drawing, please click on FAX/MAIL above, or call our office at (213) 627-6217, ext. 207.

For more info about the reception and drawing, please visit:
http://www.jas-socal.org

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The 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan
(March 25-September 25, 2005)

Located in Aichi, Japan, this world exposition has been five years in the making. Starting March 25, 2005, Japan is proud to welcome the world to its country and share this modern marvel with everyone.

In the 20th century, the world saw the creation of a new global society. With the huge advancements made in science, technology, transportation, and the remarkable progress made in the passing of information, the world has been transformed. The time has now come for the people of the 21st century to work together to begin a cultural exchange. The hope is to develop a world of peace and prosperity, where there is no hatred and everyone is tolerant of one another. Paramount to this is a global perspective. The purpose of the Expo is to bring the people of the world together to attempt to create a sustainable and harmonious place.

For more information, please visit:
http://www-0.expo2005.or.jp/en/

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Japan-related Articles:

Changing Business Environment: Japan's Wholesale Sector Gets a Facelift

The Japanese wholesale market is being modernized to make way for new technologies, as well as new realities, such as increased supply from overseas sources.

Wholesale products are gathered in terminal markets, which totaled 86 central markets and 1,351 local markets in 2002. Wholesalers operating in these markets sell to retailers and intermediate wholesalers, the latter by auction. But the markets and the commodities they handle have been declining in recent years. In 2001 they handled 79.4% of the vegetable, 54.1% of the fruit, 62.5% of the fisheries products, 79.6% of the flowering plants and 18.5% of the beef distributed in Japan, but these percentages have been falling each year since.

The Wholesale Market Law was amended in June 2004 to revitalize the wholesale sector through measures such as allowing third-party and direct sales. In third-party sales, wholesalers sell goods directly to retailers without the involvement of intermediate wholesalers. Under the direct procurement system, intermediate wholesalers can purchase perishable goods directly from producers without the involvement of wholesalers, thereby saving time while preserving product quality.

It is also possible to carry out sales through auction, bidding or separately between the seller and individual buyers. These types of transactions are only permitted, however, up to a fixed limit, namely, a percentage of the quantity expected to be handled by a market. The local government overseeing the market makes such determinations, generally on a product-by-product basis.

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Smaller Japanese Firms: Mold Maker Shapes Up International Expansion Strategy

Zeno Tech Co., Ltd. is one of just a few dedicated manufacturers of precision metal molds — especially powder metallurgy molds — in Japan. Based in Okayama Prefecture, the company claims the biggest share of the Japanese market for metal molds used to produce sintered parts. Its products are used mainly for the fabrication of oil pump components, small automotive parts (including interlocking parts for doors and trunks) and electrical household appliances such as air compressors. It has also started making metal molds for the production of cold forging components.

Zeno Tech has developed a unique production system that combines the skills of its machining technicians and precision, numerically controlled machine tools. Skilled workers use these machines to maximize the properties of specific materials during processing in accordance with materials used. Two very experienced, highly skilled factory managers constitute the backbone of Zeno Tech's machining technology sharing responsibilities for managing complex, highly precise machining processes, such as cutting, grinding and electro-spark machining (engraving and wire cutting). One of them, Mr. Kitahara, won the Okayama Prefectural Government's Okayama Meister award in 1998 due to his special combination of expertise, skill and professional judgment.

As a manufacturer handling all related production processes, from designing to manufacturing, Zeno Tech has the added advantage of being able to deliver a wide variety of products in small quantities and within a short period of time.

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Market Trends: SED Ultra-Flat Panel Television

A new player has entered the flat-panel TV market—the partnership of Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corporation—which has developed a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) for televisions. The first model goes on sale this year.

The present flat-panel TV market comprises primarily LCD and plasma screens. Neither can match the image quality of conventional CRT televisions, while CRTs themselves are large and heavy. SED TVs, however, overcome both disadvantages, making them truly the next generation in television sets.

The light-emitting principle of SEDs is the same as that of CRTs. Electrons accelerated in a vacuum collide with a luminescent surface coated with a fluorescent material, which produces light. CRT displays use a single electron-emitting electron gun, positioned roughly between 10 cm and 40 cm away from the luminescent surface, while SEDs use a separate emitter for each pixel (for example, 1,920 by 1,080 pixels). The emitters are lined up on a glass plate, which is positioned just a few millimeters from another glass plate coated with red, green and blue florescent material. The space between the two plates is a vacuum.

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Market Trends: Car Navigation System Market Enjoys Double-digit Growth

Car navigation systems assist drivers by combining data supplied from GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites with digital maps contained in DVDs and hard disks. The market for these systems is rapidly expanding. According to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, almost 2.83 million units were shipped for domestic sales in 2003, a year-on-year increase of 27.3% and the eighth consecutive year of double-digit growth. In the first 10 months of 2004, some 2.84 million units were shipped, surpassing the 2003 full-year figure. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, production in 2003 reached 3.81 million units, up 26.6% from a year earlier, and value came to 338.1 billion yen (about $3.2 billion), a 27.8% increase. What's more, production appears to have grown at an even faster pace in the first ten months of 2004.

Many large companies have entered the market, including Pioneer, Alpine Electronics, Clarion, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Sanyo Electric, Sony, Kenwood, Denso, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu Ten and Xanavi Informatics. All are competing intensely for greater shares of an expanding market.

According to an estimate by Clarion, approximately 60% of the domestic shipment in 2003 was installed in new cars and the remaining 40% was sold in the aftermarket. Some 60% of the first group was preinstalled on the production line and the remaining 40% was optionally installed at car dealerships. The demand for preinstallations is growing much faster than demand in aftermarket, suggesting that navigation systems are becoming standard equipment in new automobiles.

Automakers are also positioning the navigation system not as a standalone tool, but an essential part of multifunctional telematics systems used for transmitting various information to and from vehicles. As such, they are actively promoting installation in new cars. Of the 4.46 million passenger cars (including subcompacts) sold in 2003, almost 40% were equipped with manufacturer-specified navigation systems. The ratio even climbs beyond 80% for certain vehicle classes, including mini-vans.

In October, the Japan Automobile Research Institute estimated that a cumulative 34.3 million units would be shipped up through fiscal 2007 (ends March 31, 2008), or double the amount as of fiscal 2003. It is expected that more than 40% of the cars owned by fiscal 2007 will be equipped with navigation systems.

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