Posted on 06/18/2011 3:57:21 PM PDT by BfloGuy
You don’t hear news like this too often these days, but according to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, HP is planning to shift part of its notebook production from China to Japan in the next few months. The Californian company plans to eventually manufacture all computers for sale in Japan in factories in Akishima near Tokyo.
For that, HP plans to hire 50% more workers in Akishima, boosting the number of employees there to 450. According to the Nikkei, labor costs in Japan are about four times higher than in China. But with this move, HP apparently wants to increase efficiency, be closer to the market, stand out with a “made-in-Japan” moniker, and push down delivery times especially to Japanese business customers.
(Excerpt) Read more at crunchgear.com ...
Ah, but labor costs are just one of many production costs. And there's also the fact that Japan's central bank has virtually eliminated inflation -- the Yen's purchasing power has been stable for years.
This provides a good environment in which to do business and allows consumers to benefit from dropping prices due to productivity improvements.
The conventional wisdom these days is that Japan is in a long, slow decline. The conventional wisdom is wrong. Their GDP may be stagnant, but GDP growth is dependent on an inflating currency.
The Japanese aren't stupid. They continue to produce more goods with fewer people. Capital continues to be invested, living standards are rising and their export machine just keeps cranking.
Don't believe the Keynesian-trained ignoramuses who pontificate about Japan's lost-decades. They don't have a clue what they're talking about.
Japanese consumers enjoy the ability to purchase more each year for the same amount of Yen. This is supposedly a bad thing; I can't, for the life of me, see why.
Good maybe HP quality will go up. I know the last two notebooks I bought from them were junk...
Amazing, isn’t it? Only two months ago, FR’s doomsday chorus all but predicted the end for Japan. Luckily, Japan was having none of it, and got to work instead of wringing their hands and posting pictures of “black swans” and crying “the end is nigh!”
You are correct and people are starting to see that China can’t keep the quality aspect up. Consumers choose not only on price but on quality.
China still means cheap build quality
Japan means excellent build quality
HP should bring home the bacon
USA non-union shop means excellent build quality also, and lower shipping costs for US Customers. Since they are in HOUSTON, they could have build right in their back yard and done very well with Tax and quality.
why don’t they move it to some rural u.s. location?
HP Japan hiring 50% more workers means nothing to Japan's survival.
You may have a point about the fertility rate. But do present trends always predict future trends?
In any case, my point was about productivity and industriousness. The Japanese may need to “get busy” in other ways, too. :-)
The “Made in Japan” label is very powerful here. In some cases, people are willing to pay up to twice to get a Japanese-made product.
While part of the reason is superior workmanship, another reason is simple patriotism and a feeling that Japan has been abused by China in resent years.
Recent... Ugh, no posting before coffee...
My Touchsmart 300 was “ assembled “ in Tokyo , but virtually all the parts were made in China as far as I know . Lots of trouble with it during the first year : had to send it back for repair 3 times ( they would NOT replace it despite major hardware defects ) . I don’t care where they make their computers ; I’d never buy another HP . And I live in Japan !
“why don’t they move it to some rural u.s. location?”
I second that motion in a big way.
No,but they are the best predictor.
If we can’t use current trends then there is no point in any kind of speculation.
FR can only discuss the present and the past.
How interesting would that be?
But will they be radioactive?
“why don’t they move it to some rural u.s. location?”
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Because we do not demand it.
We should. It is the only way we will bring our jobs back.
Raise cane. And do not make it painless for companies to outsource.
“Free trade” is not our friend.
But the fallacy of predicting future trends based on snapshot trends has been illustrated before. I think it was called the Malthusian catastrophe or something like that. I’ll have to look it up, but the long and short of it is that continued indefinite geometric population growth was as unlikely in the 1800s as would be indefinite geometric population decline now, notwithstanding current trends.
Of course, I could be wrong.
i agree.....
The Data for declining Japanese fertility rates is more than a snapshot. It has been decades. Plus this is not an economic problem or a resource problem. It is a sociological/political one.
Japan is pretty much out of carrots to increase fertility rates.
It needs to use sticks.
That would need a break with its current post-war liberal-democratic traditions.
Of course it could enter a brave new world and the central government can manufacture people in the future I suppose. I would argue that “Japan” would be finished and something new has arisen.
Due to the Obama regime's business hostile policies, Obamacare mandates and union support, no business can possibly create new jobs here at home without suffering for it.
Obama’s administration is already more than half over.
It is time to start planning for when the GOP takes over.
We’ll need jobs.
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