1. RIM (Research in Motion)
Lost: $125 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012
RIM is better known for its BlackBerry smartphones that were launched in 1999. They pioneered the smartphone market. But the company is now reporting losses after facing a tough competition from Google’s android smartphones. RIM revenues were down 24 percent as compared to last year.
BlackBerry’s share of the US smartphone market reduced from 16 percent to 12.3 percent last year. The company is coming up with BlackBerry 10 handsets later this year which may be their only hope.
2. Sharp
Lost: $4.67 billion annual loss
Sharp was one of the biggest names in electronic products market. The Japanese company is now losing money because of the falling prices and shrinking sales of its LCD televisions. They have reported an annual loss of $4.67 Billion till last April and there seem to be more losses on the cards in the coming fiscal year too.
3. EA
Lost: $205 million for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2011
EA created the super hit successes such as FIFA 12, NFS and Battlefield 3 which have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. But the company has not done well in the social gaming market. The company launched ‘The Sims Social’ as a competitor to Zinga but it did not do well. It was considered as a gamble on their part since they spent a lot of money in the social gaming area. As a result the company has lost $205 million for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2011 even though they generated $1.06 billion in net revenue over the same period of time.
Sharp is facing stiff competition from North Korean manufacturers. The company sold 46 percent of its stake in its biggest plant to a Taiwanese competitor Hon Hai to cushion its losses.
4. Sony
Lost: $6.4 billion net loss in the last fiscal year
Only recently Sony was the world leader in consumer electronic products such as televisions, cameras, DVD players and portable music players. But the company is now losing ground due to stiff competition from Apple and Samsung. The company has reported a loss of $6.4 billion net loss in the last fiscal year and their earnings outlook has deceased for the fourth time in a year.
The company that once ruled the game console market with its PS2 and portable music device market with the walkman series is also losing its market share in these segments too. The Wall Street Journal said the loss would be “the biggest-ever in the electronics conglomerate’s 65-year history.”
5. Nintendo
Lost: $461.2 million for the 2011 fiscal year
Nintendo once ruled the game console market with its Nintendo Wii but are now facing a hard time due to competition from Microsoft and Sony. Both these companies slashed their prices to beat Nintendo Wii as a result of which wii prices had to be brought down. As a result the company faced a loss of $461.2 million for the 2011 fiscal year. Smartphone based gaming is another competitor that Nintendo has to face.
6. Nokia
Lost: $1.2 billion in a quarter in 2012
Nokia has always captured the market for low end cell phones especially in developing countries. They were the largest handset manufacturers in the world till the first quarter of 2012 but Samsung has now taken that spot.
Nokia has not yet broken into the ever growing smartphone market where Apple and Samsung are the leaders. As a result the company is facing loses as big as $1.2 billion in the last quarter of 2012. They blamed the ‘greater than expected competitive challenges’. The company’s only hope is the new windows phone that they have launched.
7. Barnes & Noble
Lost: $11 million in 39 weeks ending January 28, 2012
Barnes and Noble came up with Nook e-book reader but stiff competition from other tablet and e-book readers such as Apple and Amazon has created problems for the company. The company faced a loss of $11 million in 39 weeks ending January 2012. These losses were blamed on the continuous investment for nook’s advertising and personnel. Microsoft has come to their rescue and has formed an alliance with Barnes and Noble to invest in their e-book and e-reader businesses in exchange for the creation of Nook models that run the Windows OS.
8. Acer
Lost: $212 million in 2011
Acer was known for its netbook and the cheap, portable and underpowered laptop the user base for which is not known to be very loyal. The rise of the tablet market and smartphones in the past two years has caused a fall in the sales of the netbooks. They reduced their prices which did not do much good and the company saw a massive loss of $212 million in 2011.
Their hopes are now riding on the new Ultrabook, Intel’s laptop and the next generation of netbooks which will be priced $499 to compete with iPads. The pricing strate