韓国半導体競争力台頭

Last month the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:

パナソニック、半導体競争力失う…韓国勢台頭で

パナソニックが、デジタル家電向けの半導体を生産している主力３工場を、イスラエル企業に売却する交渉に入ったのは、韓国勢の台頭などで半導体事業が競争力を失ったためだ。今後は、成長が見込まれる自動車や産業分野での開発に力を入れ、２０１５年度の黒字化を目指す。

　魚津（富山県魚津市）、砺波（富山県砺波市）、新井（新潟県妙高市）の３工場を、半導体受託製造会社タワージャズ社に売却する。売却すれば、国内での半導体の自社生産から事実上撤退することになる。３工場で合計約２５００人いる従業員の大半は、タワージャズと設立する合弁会社で雇用を継続する予定だ。合弁会社に移らない人員は、パナソニックの他の部門に配置転換する。

（2013年11月27日23時02分  読売新聞）

(試譯文)

Panasonic entered into a negotiation with an Israel company to sell off its 3 prime factories which produced the digital-appliances-oriented semiconductor because the semiconductor enterprise lost its competitive power in face of the looming presence of South Korea etc. From now on, Panasonic would put a lot of energy into the automobile and industrial sectors which growth could be expected, and aimed at a surplus in the 2015 fiscal year.

     The three factories in Uozu (Uozu-shi, Toyama), Tonami (Tonami, Toyama), and Arai (Myoko-shi, Niigata) would be sold off to the semiconductor contractor manufacture company the Tower Jazz. If they were sold off, Panasonic would withdraw from the in-house production of the semiconductor in the country as a matter of fact. Most of 2500 employees in these three factories would continue their employment in the Tower Jazz in a joint corporation to be established. The staff that did not move to the joint corporation would be transferred to other sections of the Panasonic.

It seems that the South Korean has become a strong competitor in the electronic industry. Japanese companies have to work harder in order to survive.