Report
Joel Scheiman ...
  • Julie Boote
  • Lindsay Whipp
  • Pelham Smithers
  • Thao Nguyen
  • William Nestuk

PSA Japan Research Round-Up for the Week ending April 12, 2019

The Weekly Comment by Pelham Smithers
We believe there are exciting times ahead that will considerably change the upside profile on Nintendo.
Reports / Flash Notes Summaries
1. Fuel Cell Vehicles – Why Bother?
2. Trend Micro (4704 JT): Challenging Years Ahead
Company / Sector / Thematic Comments at a Glance
Technology: Consumer Electronics / Gaming
1. Nintendo (7974 JT) Gets Xbox Live for the Switch
2. Loeb & Sony (6758 JT): Why This Time May be Different
3. What Next for Panasonic (6752 JT) & Tesla (TSLA US)?
4. Camera Market in Freefall – Again
5. Box Office Receipts Continue to Struggle Globally
6. EU, UK Initiate Anti-Competition Investigations into Gaming
Technology: Industrial Electronics / SPE / Components / Precision
7. Toshiba’s (6502 JT) LNG Deal Falls Through
8. Nidec (6594 JT) 4Q FY18 Preview
9. Japan to Have New Banknotes by 20248
Chemicals / Materials
10. Toray’s (3402 JT) New Investment in China
11. Asahi Kasei’s (3407 JT) Housing Orders Surge +36% YoY
12. Daiwa House (1925 JT) Shares Hit by Nonconformity Disclosures
13. Nissha (7915 JT) Joins JOLED Shareholders
14. Proposed Chemical Safety Crackdown in China
Pharmaceuticals
15. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s (4506 JT) New Mid-Term Plan
Auto Parts / Machinery
16. Takeuchi (6432 JT) Sees Top-Line Growth in FY19
17. Nabtesco (6268 JT) Steadies Despite Boeing Issue
18. Yaskawa (6506 JT) FY18 OP Reflects Weak A/C Servos but FY19 Outlook as Expected
Internet / eCommerce
19. istyle (3660 JT) Opens @cosme Official Store on Tmall.com
20. Mercari (4385 JT) Rising too Far, too Fast
Enterprise Software
21. Investors Shrug Off Bellsystem24’s (6183 JT) Lacklustre Earnings
22. Pasona (2168 JT) Reports Q3, Sustaining Predictably Weak OPM
Miscellaneous
23. Should SBI Holdings (8473 JT) Buy Suruga Bank (8358 JT)? (Probably Not, But…)
Macro / Market
24. Analysts More Confident on Japan Earnings
25. Strong China Exports but Imports Weak
PSA Company Visits, Tours and Interviews
• Contacted / Interviewed: Asahi Kasei (3407 JT), M3 (2413 JT), Nomura Research Institute (4307 JT)
• Attended Information meeting: Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (4506 JT), Japan Display (6740 JT)
• Telephone conference: Yaskawa (6506 JT)
Weekly Comment by Pelham Smithers
Taking the Cycle Out of Nintendo
For years, video gamers had a useful and free insight into the state of the Japanese gaming market thanks to the weekly publication by Media Create of the Japanese video game and console charts. Over the past couple of years, the site has also become popular with the investment community, as it gave a strong indication of how well Nintendo’s (7974 JT) Switch was (or wasn’t) doing. Sadly, but understandably, Media Create has decided to cash in on its report and it is now available only to subscribers, as is the other, similar series from Famitsu. However, the data for March is all we need for Nintendo’s 4Q FY18 numbers, and it should be pointed out that the Switch has consistently been selling 50,000/wk or more in Japan. This suggests that it is on target to sell 2.5mil units in the quarter, worldwide, which in turn means that it should sell 17mil consoles in FY18. That’s short of the 20mil units it had been gunning for, but it fell behind that target last summer, so a miss is neither surprising nor particularly meaningful, given the higher-than-forecast tie ratio.
Provider
Pelham Smithers Associates Ltd
Pelham Smithers Associates Ltd

Founded in 2009, Pelham Smithers Associates (PSA) provides market intelligence on Asian technology, focusing in particular on Japan. The industries covered by our team of specialists are: consumer electronics, telecomms, pharmaceuticals, internet, electronic parts and materials, automotive technology, retail and capital goods. 

PSA produces both company and sector reports. The focus of PSA’s research is to identify winners and losers as new technologies impact the top and bottom lines of corporations. Critical to our research is the clear explanation of how these new technologies work and how they impact companies and industries. 

The founding partners have worked closely together for twenty years and the team has more than doubled in size since 2012. 

Analysts
Joel Scheiman

Julie Boote

Lindsay Whipp

Pelham Smithers

Thao Nguyen

William Nestuk

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