`Obsession with innovation downed Japan`s elec. sector`

"The failure of Japan`s electronics companies was due to their excess pursuit of innovation."

Jeroen Blomhard, executive director of Xiameter business at Dow Corning, a leading silicon supplier, had this to say about Japan`s electronics sector. Xiameter`s core business is online silicon sales.

Often called a key innovation driver by Harvard Business Review, Blomhard warned that Japan`s excess obsession on innovation was a poison pill.

Joining Dow Corning Belgium in 1994, he sold silicon for TV panels to Asian electronics manufacturers. He said, "Japanese clients constantly demanded orders and were hard to please, but were slow in making finished products." He added that Japanese companies fell into the dilemma of being too obsessed with improving small things and innovating, which delayed their investment and development and eventually resulted in failure to release finished products in a timely manner.

Blomhard also said Japanese companies erred in focusing solely on the domestic market, adding Korean companies also make many demands but are fast in business promotion overseas.

Xiameter was established in 2002 to stave off severe competition from low-price products made in China. The business unit accounted for 40 percent of Dow Corning`s sales of 6.43 billion U.S. dollars last year, becoming a core driver of corporate growth. Blomhard said Xiameter is concentrating on developing materials that can compensate for lack of energy and water.

mint4a@donga.com