14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt, one of the saddest, most terrifying news today is that related to the devastating earthquake that hit Japan earlier, followed by a couple of tsunami waves that literally destroyed everything in their path.
I believe many of you have already watched the videos posted online by various news outlets, you've seen the photos, and much like myself, your thoughts are now going towards the large number of people affected by this terrible catastrophe.
However, although material losses pale in comparison to the loss of lives (although the official death toll is not yet in, it seems that we'll most be likely talking about a couple of thousands casualties, due to the sheer extent of this disaster), we can't help but comment a bit on this topic, especially important since Japan is, after all, one of the world's top economic powers.
So, as Electronista reports, it seems that some of the best-known Japanese companies, such as Sony, Panasonic and Nikon, might have already been affected by the quake and subsequent tsunami wave, some of their facilities in the northeastern part of Japan, where the earthquake hit the hardest, being affected, with some injuries occurring within the plants.
No reports regarding possible casualties have been provided, though.
So, as production has halted in some of these facilities, while others are struggling to get back on track (although the general power losses in the earthquake area will most likely render these efforts useless), it's becoming quite clear that the IT and consumer electronics segments might take a serious hit over the next couple of weeks (or even months).
And that's because quite a lot of high-end components used in top products belonging to Apple, Dell, or others are manufactured in the Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Nikon and other plants in the heavily-industrialized area of northeastern Japan.