<div class="gmail_quote"><div><div></div><div>----------------- PBXL: DON'T BUY A PBX! ------------------<br>
<br>
Check out our NEW web site! <a href="http://www.pbxl.jp" target="_blank">http://www.pbxl.jp</a><br>
<br>
PBXL brings your telephone system, telecom carrier, and<br>
Internet connectivity together under one roof.<br>
Outsource your telecom management for a worry-free<br>
office environment!<br>
<br>
Join us at our monthly seminar at Cisco Headquarters:<br>
<a href="http://en.pbxl.jp/seminars.php" target="_blank">http://en.pbxl.jp/seminars.php</a><br>
<br>
Contact us today!<br>
03-4550-2557<br>
<a href="mailto:info@pbxl.jp" target="_blank">info@pbxl.jp</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
The 'JIN' J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends in Japan.<br>
Issue No. 511 Tuesday June 23, 2009, Tokyo<br>
<br>
When you think about quality, what comes to mind? Watches? Rolex.<br>
Cars? A Porsche maybe? Well, after this week, it might be a Hyundai.<br>
California-based consultancy JD Power released its annual survey of<br>
automobile quality this week and Hyundai was the star performer. The<br>
Korean car manufacturer took fourth spot behind Lexus, Porsche and<br>
Cadillac, up nine spots from last year’s 13th place.<br>
<br>
When the smoke clears, and consumers start buying cars again,<br>
perception is going to be more important than ever and the latest JD<br>
Power survey paints a changing picture of the industry.<br>
<br>
Two examples in this <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/09ba2084-5f58-11de-93d1-00144feabdc0.html" target="_blank">Financial Times article</a>
illustrate some big <br>movement in the rankings – Suzuki went from 32nd to 9th spot while <br>Jaguar, acquired last year by India’s Tata, dropped 20 places.<br>
<br>
The FT also reported that Ford’s luxury brand, Lincoln, Nissan’s<br>
Infiniti, Pontiac and Audi also fared markedly worse in this year’s<br>
survey. It won’t matter much for Pontiac though – General Motors will<br>
be phasing out the division by 2010 as the company resurrects itself.<br>
<br>
To be fair though, GM’s Pontiac G6 ranked in the top three of<br>
mid-sized cars. Plus I’m sure there are plenty of Pontiac fans out<br>
there so I should be careful. Actually, I’m a fan myself. I still have dreams <br>of driving my hydrogen-fueled 1968 Pontiac GTO down the west coast <br>of the US, only stopping to fill it with water which is then converted <br>
into clean H-fuel. Fear of crashing it and creating an atomic explosion <br>will probably mean I’ll need to convert it to corn-based biofuel in the<br>
meantime.<br>
<br>
Actually, seeing as most people are flat-out buying a pre-converted <br>hybrid Prius, in reality, we’ll all have to shelve our plans of combining <br>some of the coolest cars created by man with guilt-free driving pleasure <br>
(both from an ecological and financial point of view).<br>
<br>
So until then, consumers will be looking elsewhere, and, as the US Big<br>
Three limp along or are put down and resurrected as zombie shells of<br>
their former selves, and as their Japanese counterparts reel from<br>
blows sustained in the same markets, the challengers are emerging.<br>
<br>
Again, according to the FT report, Hyundai’s market share grew to 4.2<br>
percent in the first five months of this year from 2.9 percent during<br>
the same period the previous year. And a lot of this was taken away<br>
from Toyota and Honda.<br>
<br>
This doesn’t mean market share is converting into huge profits though,<br>
as the market has shrunken dramatically. I would be interested to see<br>
how this translates in real terms. It does mean that, if Hyundai can<br>
hold onto or even expand the market share when things pick up, they<br>
could be in a very good position profit wise.<br>
<br>
Hyundai was able to snap up a lot of the small to medium car sales and<br>
this is the area where most auto-manufacturers will be concentrating<br>
on for the foreseeable future.
According to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aE9iwWSyHXR0" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a> truck sales dropped <br>25 percent in 2008. This was about twice the decline in cars. According to <br>
this particular report,
US automakers were hit by about $62.4 billion in losses.<br>
<br>
There is a sense of deja vu with Hyundai's two-fold improvements in<br>
both market share and quality. The Japanese manufacturers of course<br>
managed to do this decades ago and now they are generally accepted as<br>
the standard for mid-range cars. It's going to be a real battle over<br>
the next couple of years and the US automakers will be up against it, <br>and not just from the Japanese.<br>
<br>
Michael Condon
<br>
Editor-in-chief<br>
<br>
----------------- Web Hosting in Japan --------------------<br>
<br>
Ever wanted to host your website in Japan but the cost<br>
put you off?<br>
<br>
With shared hosting accounts from 210 yen per month,<br>
Tsukaeru.net makes it easy to utilize Japan's world renowned<br>
super-fast backbone for prices comparable to the US. Tsukaeru<br>
also has a range of VPS (virtual private server) packages<br>
available. Known for its reliability backed by 10 years<br>
experience in the Japanese market, Tsukaeru.net is ranked<br>
No. 1 for VPS sign ups.<br>
<br>
Become a Tsukaeru.net affiliate and start earning.<br>
Earn as much as 50% of sales price for a single effortless<br>
introduction! Don't miss out on this great offer.<br>
Its free to register and there are no minimal sales requirements.<br>
<br>
See <a href="http://www.tsukaeru.net/en/?pid=220" target="_blank">http://www.tsukaeru.net/en/?pid=220</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
For the first time, serial entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd brings<br>
his extremely popular business seminars to Okayama and to Kobe.<br>
The Okayama seminar, entitled 'Innovative Business Leaders<br>
Seminar', will be held on Saturday July 25 at the Kurashiki<br>
Chamber of Commerce.<br>
<br>
On Sunday July 26, Terrie will hold his Enrepreneurs Handbook<br>
Seminar at the Kobe International House.<br>
>From JR Sannomiya Station it's just a short 5 min walk<br>
down Flower Road.<br>
<br>
For registration send mail to <a href="mailto:seminar@japaninc.com" target="_blank">seminar@japaninc.com</a><br>
For more information please go to:<br>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/seminars-july" target="_blank">http://www.japaninc.com/seminars-july</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
------------------- ICA Event - July 30 -------------------<br>
<br>
Event: Summer Networking Party! Open to all<br>
<br>
Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/" target="_blank">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>
(RSVP Required)<br>
<br>
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009<br>
<br>
Time: 19:00 - 21:00 Open Bar and Finger Food Included<br>
Cost: 1,000 yen (members), 2,500 yen (non-members)<br>
Open to all - venue is Zest Iikura<br>
<a href="http://www.zest-cantina.jp/en/iikura/home/location" target="_blank">http://www.zest-cantina.jp/en/iikura/home/location</a><br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
The Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo is a proud supporter of<br>
NetTokyo 2009 - summer charity networking event.<br>
<br>
2009 marks the 5th year of NetTokyo - and this year it will<br>
be another amazing event with 500 people expected!<br>
What is NetTokyo?<br>
The biggest summer, Saturday afternoon, network-of-networks<br>
charity networking event for the Japanese and international<br>
community in Tokyo.<br>
<br>
The core concepts of NetTokyo are:<br>
<br>
1) Bring the members of various business groups together once<br>
a year to help each organization and their members expand<br>
their networks.<br>
<br>
2) Raise money for deserving charities with each organizer<br>
designating the charity of their choice.<br>
<br>
3) Have a fun and casual summer afternoon party that is<br>
family-friendly and a welcoming environment for all people.<br>
<br>
Registration: <a href="http://www.nettokyo.jp" target="_blank">http://www.nettokyo.jp</a><br>
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2009<br>
Time: 14:00 - 18:00<br>
Venue: Monsoon Cafe Daikanyama<br>
Price: 4000 yen in advance; 5000 yen at the door<br>
<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br></div></div></div><br>