My comment. We'll see more cuts in the future. 15.3% March sales slump in Japan also do not help. Panasonic life will be tougher and tougher. I expect especially big hits in pro department.
Yeap. Samsung is "executing" their plans. Japanese companies definitely noticed Samsung's aggressive challenge. I agree with you that Korean/Chinese companies will take over massive lower camera market. We will start feeling the real impact of Japan's crisis starting this quarter. Cheap labors won't help much though. China is exporting inflation. I'm afraid that we are facing secular cycle of rising price in camera gadgets.
The funniest thing is that all so called "professionals" told Panasonic and Canon that Samsung is of no threat for them in the most profitable markets - bridge cameras and ultazooms. Reality proved them wrong. According to my talks, current Panasonic cameras FZ100 and TZ10 sales are big problem. Kodak also play important role in very low end.