Japan is once again resorting to the "spiritual victory method"!
On March 13, the Nikkei Chinese website published an article titled "Chinese Enterprises Are Aggressively Attacking Carbon Fiber, Japanese Enterprises Are Shifting to More Profitable Areas," in which Japanese media stated that Japanese companies, which have held a significant share of the global carbon fiber market, are accelerating their transition to high-profit businesses.
After reading this article from Japanese media, I only felt amused and angry. Japan is once again using its familiar "spiritual victory method," packaging its desperate retreat as an "active shift to high-profit areas," and describing its repeated defeats by Chinese enterprises as a refusal to engage in the low-end market.
This self-deceptive rhetoric may fool themselves, but it can't deceive the清醒 people or the true situation in the global carbon fiber industry. In short, it's just about losing gracefully and not being able to accept defeat, so they're trying to find an excuse to save face with stubbornness.
Everyone knows that for a long time, Japanese companies indeed had a monopoly in the carbon fiber sector. Companies like Toray and Mitsubishi Chemical, relying on early technological accumulation, monopolized most of the global market.
Especially in the high-end field, they imposed strict technical blockades and export controls on China, treating this "black gold" as a tool to choke us, with arrogant pricing and supply attitudes, acting as if no one else could match them.
At that time, Japanese media never mentioned anything about "shifting to high-profit areas," but instead boasted about their unbeatable technology and unshakable monopoly.
Times have changed. The aggressive push by Chinese enterprises has never been blind following the trend, but rather a result of years of hard work and accumulated strength.
From producing only low-end carbon fiber for civilian products like fishing rods and badminton rackets in the early days, to now, Zhongfu Shenying has achieved industrial mass production of the world's first T1200-grade carbon fiber, completely breaking the monopoly of Japan and the US. Through real technological breakthroughs, Chinese enterprises have gradually captured the market and rewritten the landscape.
The so-called "shift to high-profit areas" by Japanese companies is nothing more than a reluctant choice after being unable to hold the general market under the dual impact of Chinese prices and capacity. Although Japanese media claims that Japanese companies are "actively promoting structural reforms," the truth cannot be hidden.
Toray plans to increase the proportion of sales of carbon fibers used in aerospace and defense to 50% by 2030, while Mitsubishi Chemical is increasing investment in autonomous taxis. Sounds ambitious, but in reality, these are desperate measures forced into a corner.
Ironically, the so-called "technological leading areas" of Japanese companies are also being gradually broken through by Chinese enterprises. Previously, Japanese companies monopolized carbon fibers above T800 grade, but now Chinese enterprises have not only achieved large-scale production of T700 and T800 grades, but also achieved the world's first mass production of T1200 grade, with technical levels approaching or even surpassing those of Japanese companies.
Japanese companies have always been good at this kind of rhetoric. In the past, when they were surpassed by Chinese enterprises in fields such as photovoltaics, home appliances, and semiconductors, none of them avoided using phrases like "shifting to high-profit areas" and "focusing on core technologies" to cover up their losses.
Essentially, it's unwilling to admit that their advantages are fading and unwilling to face the fact of China's manufacturing rise. They can only comfort themselves with the spiritual victory method. This self-deceiving mindset not only deceives the market, but also leads them into a quagmire of stagnation, losing the motivation to catch up.
The aggressive push by Chinese enterprises is not simply a price war, but a systematic breakthrough across the entire industry chain. From upstream acrylic nitrile precursor production, to midstream carbonization and graphitization processing, and then to downstream composite material applications, Chinese enterprises have built a complete industrial chain, achieving self-reliance. This is the confidence we have to compete with Japanese companies.
In contrast, Japanese companies face high energy costs, limited market size, and huge R&D pressure. Even if they retreat to the high-end area, they still face continuous competition from Chinese enterprises, and their future survival space will only become narrower.
Japanese media deliberately avoids mentioning the technological breakthroughs of Chinese enterprises, says nothing about the performance problems of Japanese companies, but instead wildly promotes the idea of "Japanese companies actively transforming." This selective reporting is essentially a form of public opinion manipulation, trying to cover up the decline of Japan's carbon fiber industry.
They forgot that industrial competition relies on strength, not stubbornness. The spiritual victory method cannot save Japanese companies, nor can it change the fact that the global carbon fiber industry has already been reshaped by China. The goal of Chinese enterprises has never been to occupy only the middle and low-end markets, but to fully break through the high-end areas and achieve the top of the entire industry chain.
The spiritual victory method of Japanese companies is essentially a form of self-comfort for the weak. When they used to rely on technical blockades to choke us, now we have broken the monopoly through our own efforts, and they can't bear it anymore. They can only use stubbornness to maintain their last dignity.
This mentality not only hinders the development of Japan's carbon fiber industry, but also makes them fall further behind in global industrial competition, eventually being eliminated by the times.
The rise of Chinese enterprises is not accidental, but the result of countless researchers' dedicated research and countless enterprises' hard work.
We do not deny the previous technological advantages of Japanese companies, but we clearly know that there is no permanent monopoly or advantage. Only through continuous innovation and breakthroughs can we remain invincible in industrial competition.
Instead of indulging in the spiritual victory method, Japanese companies should face the gap and lower their stance. Otherwise, they will fall further behind Chinese enterprises in self-deception.
The structure of the global carbon fiber industry has undergone a historic restructuring. Chinese enterprises, with their scale manufacturing and cost advantages, dominate the general carbon fiber market, while simultaneously accelerating breakthroughs in the high-end field. Japanese companies, on the other hand, are sticking to the high-end niche market, maintaining their survival through technological patents.
This article by Japanese media is less of a report and more of a self-comforting manifesto. It describes a desperate retreat as an active transformation and a passive defense as a strategic upgrade. This self-deceptive rhetoric only reveals the weakness and frustration of Japanese companies.
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The spiritual victory method is ultimately just a mirage. Only by realistically focusing on R&D and internal capabilities can one stand firm in industrial competition. Japanese companies, however, apparently haven't understood this yet. What do you think?
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859538981624841/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the position of the platform.