Yesterday, we reported about Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba planning to establish a joint venture for small and mid-size LCD panels in Japan. And today, the three companies, plus major shareholder Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, made the plan official.

As reported, the semi-public organization will control 70% of the venture (to be set up by the end of the year), with the other partners holding a 10% stake each. Tentatively named “Japan Display”, the venture will launch with a cool US$2.6 billion investment and instantly control 21.5% of the world market for small and medium-sized LCDs.

According to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Sharp will be the second-largest maker of this type of displays with a 20% market share. The same newspaper says the four companies involved in Japan Display are currently trying to figure out where to set up plants in order to start production as quickly as possible.

Apart from LCDs, Japan Display will also invest in OLED-related research and development.

We reported last week that two of Japan’s top cell phone makers, Fujitsu and Toshiba, were in talks to merge their cell phone businesses. And today, we have the rumor confirmed. Under the agreement, Toshiba will spin off its handset unit and Fujitsu is expected to take the majority stake in the joint venture (between a whopping 70 and 80%, according to reports in Japanese media).

The integration is aimed at combining development, production, marketing and sales of cell phones. It will create Japan’s second largest cell phone maker (with a combined 18.7% domestic market share), following Sharp (26.1%).

Fujitsu and Toshiba say that the joint venture will be launched as early as October 1 this year and that the goal is not only to catch up to Sharp domestically but also to enter Asia and markets elsewhere as soon as possible.

These are understandable reasons. In Japan itself, both companies are facing increasing competition from the joint venture NEC, Casio, and Hitachi formed earlier this month and from the iPhone. Hit by the recession and a rapidly graying user base, shipments of handsets within Japan fell 12.3% year on year to a 12-year low of 31 million units in fiscal 2009.

Historically, exports have been weak as well. Toshiba, for example, sells just 100,000 handsets yearly in Europe. The Fujitsu-Toshiba entity would not even command 1% of the global cell phone market if it launched today.

The joint venture, if it happens, will create Japan’s second largest cell phone maker (with a combined 18.7% domestic market share), following Sharp (26.1%). Fujitsu (the current No. 3 among Japan’s handset makers with over 5 million handsets shipped in 2009) is expected to become the main stakeholder in the joint venture. Toshiba is the eighth biggest (1.28 million units).

The motivation for the move is clear: all of Japan’s once proud handset makers are in big trouble, being under pressure from the success of foreign-made smartphones entering their once closed home market and facing a rapidly shrinking domestic customer base.

As in the deal between Casio, NEC and Hitachi (which all merged their cell phone operations on June 1 to become NEC Casio Mobile), Fujitsu and Toshiba hope to reduce costs and boost competitiveness. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see both companies announcing international expansion plans (as NEC Casio Mobile already did) soon.

The deal has been in the making for months now, but yesterday Panasonic finally announced a tender offer for Sanyo Electric, paving the way to convert Sanyo into a wholly owned subsidiary as early as the middle of next month.

The tender offer is being supported by Sanyo’s board, and the company’s three main shareholders (all of them are in the finance sector) have agreed to sell their shares to Panasonic. The shares from the companies account for 50.13% of all Sanyo shares.

Both the Sanyo brand and the company’s listing at the Tokyo Stock Exchange remain untouched however. Panasonic says the primary goal of the acquisition was to boost the company’s position in the field of green energy, i.e. by tapping Sanyo’s expertise in batteries and solar panels. One of Sanyo’s biggest hits in the past few years has been their eneloop series of rechargeable batteries and related products.

The new giant will rival Japan’s biggest electronics company, Hitachi, in terms of sales.

The merger will shrink the number of Japanese mobile phone makers from eight to six: NEC Casio Mobile Communications, Sharp, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic and Kyocera. The new company will control just over 20% of Japan’s 100 million handset market, following Sharp’s 21.8% share.

The integration will take place in April 2010. NEC will take over a 66% stake, with Casio and Hitachi owning 17.34% and 16.66%, respectively.

And today, it came to light the new company aims at cracking certain cell phone markets outside Japan, too. Major shareholder NEC in particular is said to be interested in going international before launching LTE, as the Japanese home market is shrinking rapidly.

In fiscal 2012, NEC Casio Mobile Communications intends to sell 7 million phones in Japan and 5 million in other markets (two to three times more than now). NEC gave up its cell phone distribution network in Europe and China in 2006.

As the only satellite radio fan here at CrunchGear, I feel it’s my duty to review the year that was and point out some of the events that made the medium such a joy. This isn’t a typical “Top 10 Movies” snoozefest, but rather an illustration of what makes satellite radio inherently superior to regular, terrestrial radio (provided you don’t mind a nominal monthly fee).

Please note that this list isn’t to be ranked, but seen as a sum total “these were the best moments of the year, in my [worthless] opinion.”

With that…

1. The Back to the Future Secret Show on XM. If any broadcast showed the power of satellite radio it was this one. Hosted by the Opie and Anthony staff (minus Opie), they narrated the classic movie Back to the Future live on the air, riffing on the abject corruption of Mayor Goldie Wilson, the awkwardness of having your high school-age mother hit on you in the past (even though you’re from the future and know she’s your mother) and just how big a creep the Doc is. I could have done without Sam’s last 100 examples of “foreshadowing,” however.

2. The Ron and Fez election special on XM. The great Ron Bennington, as well as the rest of the Ron and Fez staff, should be applauded for their election coverage this year. Rather than focus on the horse race aspect of the election—oh my God, candidate A is six-tenths of a point behind candidate B in sate Y!—the Ron and Fez team went the other way, telling heartfelt stories about what the first black president meant to them. The many terrible songs about the election, submitted by the show’s listeners, made light of the awful importance of the election.

3. Coldplay Nation on Sirius. Please note that this is a catch-all selection. That is, whenever any band “takes over” a channel it’s worth listening to (provided you like the band). I merely picked Coldplay because they were everywhere this year. Their songs were in iTunes commercials, the BBC used “Life in Technicolor” for its Olympic coverage, etc. (Though the New York Times went out of its way to hate on the band.) When was the last time your local rock station (“the real home of rock and roll,” no doubt) has done anything like this, letting bands run the station?

4. The Winter Music Conference on Sirius and XM. Yes, I’m biased toward electronic music, but Sirius really goes out of its way to make this festival seem special on its airwaves. (Or, about as special as it can feel when you’re 1,000 miles away from Miami.) For that one week in March all you need is Area (called Area 33 back then) or BPM. Lots of fun.

5. The merger, shared content, the firings and the future. The dumb merger between XM and Sirius finally went down this year, and it wasn’t until the fall the people started seeing Howard Stern on their XM radios and O&A and Ron and Fez on their Sirius units. The shared content between the two services hasn’t been well received by everyone, but think of all of the people made redundant by the merger. (Not that it matters: look at Sirius XM’s stock price.) The question now becomes wether or not Mel can find the money to keep the service running, so that we can look forward to the Back to the Future Part 2 Secret Show next year.

As part of the $39 million dollar merger agreement between Virgin Mobile USA and Helio back in June, Helio is contractually obligated to cut down their costs by around 70 percent.

According to Virgin Mobile USA’s CEO, Dan Schulman, such reductions are already well underway. During last night’s VMUSA Q2 2008 earnings conference call, he announced that over two-thirds of the staff at Helio House had been let go, with nearly all of the corporate-owned stores and kiosks getting the shutters-and-plywood makeover. Our best to everyone involved.

On the fruition of the partnership, Schulman added: “Our integration teams are working hard behind the scenes to put together compelling products and services, and we are excited about the prospect of launching differentiated plans, handsets and services over the next several quarters.”

With Q3 just about half-way over and the deal still not completely finalized, anyone still holding their breath for an Ocean 2 will probably be a bit blue in the face until some time in 2009.

[Via mocoNews]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the XM-Sirius merger has been given the tentative OK by the FCC. Deborah Taylor Tate, the final FCC commissioner to cast a vote, is expected to vote in favor of the merger, thus clearing the way for the merger.

There are, of course, a few restrictions to be placed on the newly combined company.

• Price freeze. They have agreed not to raise prices for at least the next three years.

• Fines. The companies have to pay some $20 million in fines for all sorts of transgressions, including building satellite repeaters in unapproved locations, and creating FM transmitters that were more powerful than the FCC allows.

• Minority programming. The companies will have to set aside a percentage of their bandwidth, currently thought to be about 8 percent (24 channels) for educational and minority programming.

Be sure to watch the National Association of Broadcasters’ Web site, since the merged companies are not being forced to include regular radio or HD Radio in their new receivers, something the NAB lobbied for.

Expect to hear from both XM and Sirius soon.

Today was a big day vis-à-vis the XM-Sirius merger, as Johnathan Adelstein, the FCC commissioner who wanted to place all those restrictions on the merger in exchange for his support, has officially withdrawn his proposal, voting against the merger in the process. That leaves us all tied up for votes for and against the merger with one single, solitary vote pending.

Deborah Taylor Tate (right), a Republican, is now the final deciding vote. If she votes for the merger then it goes through. If she votes against it, all of this merger talk has been a giant waste of time, even more so than it already has been.

Tate is thought to be in favor of the merger.

Adelstein’s statement reads as if he expects the merger to go through:

… it appears they’re going to get a monopoly with window dressing. We really missed a great opportunity to reach a bipartisan agreement that would have benefited the American people.

Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure more Americans are concerned with things like high gas prices than whether or not a couple of subscription radio services merge.

Bottom line, this merger thing should be wrapping up sooner rather than later. Imagine that!

Believe it or not, the XM-Sirius merger could be finalized “any day now.” Cowen & Company, a high-profile investment bank, says the merger “is finally at hand and should occur by the end of this month.”

Finally, right?

In other possibly corroborating news, XM staffers have been asked to cancel any vacation plans for the week of July 21 (Opie said as much last week), when The Final Vote is expected to be cast.

We can see the light, people!

Oh, how I shall miss Helio.

In light of this morning’s long expected announcement that Virgin Mobile had purchased Helio, a Q&A has gone up to answer some of the more pressing questions.

It’s all pretty straightforward: there will be no service interruption, new members are welcome, contracts are still valid, and they expect the Helio brand will eventually be dissolved.

HELIO and Virgin Mobile USA are teaming up to combine our strengths and deliver a better mobile experience. On June 27th Virgin Mobile USA announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire HELIO.

HELIO gains access to Virgin Mobile USA’s extensive distribution network and broad customer base, while Virgin Mobile USA gains access to HELIO’s exclusive, high-end devices and premium services. Both companies look forward to coming together to bring exciting prepaid and postpaid opportunities to their customers.

Q: What does this mean for current HELIO members? Can I still use my HELIO device, while keeping my HELIO service plan and number?

A: Current service plans will continue without interruption – it will be business as usual. HELIO members are at the center of this transaction and we’ll continue to bring them the innovative mobile services they’ve come to expect.

Q: Can new members still sign up for HELIO service?

A: Absolutely. HELIO will continue to offer exclusive, high-end devices and our innovative All-In plans.

Q: Will the HELIO brand be retained, or will everything migrate to Virgin Mobile USA?

A: Over time, we expect that all aspects of the customer experience will be integrated under the Virgin Mobile USA brand. Integration of the direct sales channel will begin immediately, and we expect that existing HELIO products and services will soon be offered through the Virgin Mobile USA website at www.virginmobileusa.com.

Q: So what’s next?

A: We’re excited by the possibilities our new, combined team offers. We have some big ideas, but as you can imagine, a little bit of housekeeping is in order before we share them. Stay tuned!

Q: Does this affect my current contract with HELIO in any way? When Virgin Mobile USA does acquire HELIO, can I end my current contract without paying an early termination fee (ETF)?

A: HELIO contracts remain in effect and unchanged by this transaction. HELIO members who wish to end their contract early will still be subject to an early termination fee (ETF).

Let’s be honest. We’ve seen this coming for more than a month now and the Financial Times is reporting that VM and Helio could announce sometime this week that the two MVNOs will merge leaving SK Telecom with a 20 percent stake. There have been rumors floating around that Helio stores will shut their doors in an effort to cut costs, which we haven’t been able to confirm nor deny, but we’re pretty sure they’re true. We’re unsure which stores will close, but I’d like to think that the NYC store that’s 200 meters away from me will remain open. We’ll have to wait and see, though. Now that all this merger nonsense is over with, I’d like for Helio to release OZ2.

Reuters is also reporting on this matter. Sources say Helio will be absorbed into the Virgin Mobile brand. Maybe we won’t see OZ2 with the backlit Helio name. I guess I’m ok with Virgin.

It looks like Kevin Martin of the FCC is now supporting the XM-Sirius merger. I think my brain just exploded a little bit.

Yes, 16 months after initially proposing the merger (and three months after the Justice Department gave the green light), the FCC’s chairman has given it a thumbs-up. Said the chairman:

I am recommending that, with the voluntary commitments they’ve offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest

What soaring prose from Mr. Martin!

As you might expect, there are some conditions that both XM and Sirius will have to meet for the merger, which will now need to be endorsed by at least two of the remaining four FCC commissioners, to go through.

For starters, the FCC wants to see price caps on the combined service. That should silence the “now they’re a monopoly and can charge whatever they want!” criticisms.

The combined company will also be expected to set aside some 8 percent of its channels for noncommercial and minority-owned stations for later leasing.

It will also have to license its technology to more hardware manufacturers in order to create a more diverse radio market. Maybe now we’ll see a new portable unit—the Inno and Helix came out two years ago—from someone other than Pioneer and Samsung.

In early trading, XM is up 0.44, while Sirius is up 0.09. This widget should keep updating throughout the day.

Yahoo! Finance
Quote for XMSR

When first proposed, the combined company would have been worth $11.4 billion; it’s now worth only $7.54 billion.

We can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! Pool party at Anthony’s house!

“But if the FCC will no longer approve mergers without Congressional blessing, why does it even need to exist?” So asks the Wall Street Journal, and so ask the good boys and girls—shareholders—who are tired of this charade.

The Wall Street Journal wondered aloud yesterday just why it has taken 450 days since the merger was first proposed for it to given the thumbs up or down. The Iran hostage crisis, where lives were at stake, was wrapped up in less time.

Like, if the Justice Department has already decided that there’s nothing wrong with the merger, just what is taking the FCC so long?

Oh, you know, politics. Apparently the FCC chairman, Kevin Martin, is looking for political cover, and has asked both XM and Sirius to find support on Capitol Hill.

What?! But… it’s already been given the OK by Justice, why do they need political cover?

Never mind the $4 billion in limbo, investment in both companies currently frozen in its tracks.

Basically, the FCC is run by people with zero political courage. Big surprise.

Orbitcast

The FCC “will hopefully be able to do something on it soon.” “It” is the proposed XM-Sirius merger, while “soon” means whatever you want it to mean.

Yup, the FCC chair, Kevin Martin, said today that the deal has taken as long as it has because of all the different regulatory matters involved. Or, maybe, because the likes of the NAB have been hounding everyone since Day One, claiming that the merger will ruin radio blah blah get an iPod.

The news comes nearly three months after the Justice Department said “sure, why not?” to the merger.

And, for the zillionth time, I’m pro-merger in as much as I don’t see anything particularly wrong with it; I think those running around saying “but it’ll be a monopoly in the satellite radio industry” are being disingenuous. It’s not like satrad is a necessity and you’re forced to buy it. That, and for $10 you can buy a tape deck to connect your portable media player (iPod) to your car stereo.

Alltel, the little carrier that could, is in talks with Verizon to merge this year. Verizon is expected to pay eight times Alltel’s EBITDA (“Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization”). How much that is we do not know but it’s definitely more than fifty dollars.

UPDATE – The deal could be about $27 billion, according to Reuters.

An SK Telecom official said nothing has been decided yet, but the two companies are “seeking various ways that would be mutually beneficial.” “What is certain is that SK Telecom will never give up on Helio, our foothold for business in the U.S.,” he added.

Update: Reuters is confirming what was reported by the Chosun Ilbo earlier today.

“(SK Telecom) is currently exploring strategic opportunities for Helio and has engaged in preliminary discussions with Virgin Mobile USA with respect to such an opportunity,” SK said in a clarification statement.

Talks between SKT and Virgin Mobile are said to be in the preliminary stages and that it may not lead to anything in the end. It’s also unclear whether or not SKT will sell it’s stake in Helio to VM or that they would purchase VM.

“SK Telecom has an aggressive stance on expanding its operation in the United States,” said Hyundai Securities analyst Lee Shi-hoon. “They have money to invest. It could be that SK changed its focus to Virgin Mobile after the deal with Sprint Nextel did not work out.”

Personally I’d rather not see EA swallow any more game development houses, lest we be stuck with even more yearly sequels like GTA:Extreme Sports Edition II.

The Justice Department gave its blessing to the XM-Sirius merger yesterday. Now we wait for the FCC to weigh in, most likely siding with Justice in giving the merger the OK. Maybe they’ll throw up a few last minute hurdles—please demonstrate how this merger helps the consumer and not just your bottom line, for example—but most analysts I’ve heard and read said they expect the FCC to ultimately give its OK.

Not everyone’s happy with the decision, as you may have guessed.

The National Association of Broadcasters officially freaked out yesterday, saying it was “astonished” that Justice approved the merger. “We are astonished that the Justice Department would propose granting a monopoly to two companies that systematically broke FCC rules for more than a decade. To hinge approval of this monopoly on XM and Sirius’s refusal to deliver on a promise of interoperable radios is nothing short of breathtaking.” (A note on that interoperable radio thing: Supposedly, XM radios cannot receive Sirius signals and vice-versa. Both companies need to figure out a way for that to be fixed so current subscribers don’t get screwed.)

The NAB, which is the lobbying arm for terrestrial radio, among others, doesn’t want to see a combined satellite radio company for a few reasons. It knows that both companies are unlikely to survive as two separate operations much longer, so preventing a merger will ensure their dissolution. That’s one less competitor for terrestrial radio to battle. It hides behind that whole “monopoly” argument because, frankly, it’s an easy sell. A mere utterance of the word and most layman get suspicious.

Another group not particularly happy is fans of the Opie & Anthony Show. I’m a fan, if you haven’t figured that out by now. They fear the combined company will treat Howard Stern, their foil, better than their own Gregorio and Antonio. Mel Karmazin, who’s currently Sirius’ CEO and is pegged to become the combined company’s CEO as well, is long thought to be a supporter of Howard Stern. Not in a fan sense, but in a “What’s that, Howard? You want to be on mornings and me to force O&A into afternoons? Done.” (Karmazin, Stern and O&A all worked for Viacom several years ago. Stories of Karmazin taking sides and undermining O&A abound. Google, and syndication underground, is your friend there.)

Excited yet?

CG’s XM/Sirius coverage