Last week, following the news that Philips had stopped manufacturing TV sets for the American market, I forecast that perhaps the long awaited shakeout of the manufacturers was about to take place.

Little did I realise that the next factory to close would be one here in Scotland. I am sorry to hear that JVC is closing this plant as it has produced some excellent products over the last 21 years. Unfortunately, 300 jobs will be lost as production is switched to Europe. At present only 25 per cent of the goods produced in Scotland were sold in the UK.

JVC has announced huge losses in Japan and Matsushita, which had previously held a controlling interest, has reduced its holding to 36 per cent.

JVC was caught in the middle of a very competitive market where even top priced brands such as Sony and Samsung are producing cheaper models, too.

I am afraid that this is just the start of a manufacturer shakeout.

Circuit City is the number two CE retailer in America and this column has previously detailed how it fired all its higher paid employees in an effort to return to profit. After six loss-making quarters, the company was hoping for an improvement in its fortunes when two unwanted suitors appeared.

One is a private investor called Mark Wattles who already owns six per cent of the company and has told shareholders he wants the entire board replaced.

The second suitor is the Blockbuster video chain. Both companies are presently nursing huge losses and Circuit City has refused to give Blockbuster even a peek at the books. Blockbuster has an exclusive deal with LG on a smart box that will download movies and Blockbuster thinks that a combined firm would sell more hardware and software.

Blockbuster has 8,000 stores worldwide and it remains to be seen whether it fancies bidding for any UK consumer electronics stores.

I feel a bit sorry for Mr Lee Kun-hee who has just resigned as chairman of Samsung following his indictment on charges of tax evasion.

I have always liked Samsung and have watched the company grow and grow over the last 30 years. When I first went to Korea there was still a night-time curfew but now a quarter of the country’s exports are made by Samsung.

When I visited factories in the old days I never saw a Samsung product being made as everything was being branded for more famous names, but these days it is Samsung itself that is the leading brand.

The Samsung chaebol integrates 59 firms that include everything from amusement parks, to shops, ship-building, hospitals, insurance, chemicals and the main business of electronics. It also owns the Hotel Shilla, in Seoul, one of the very best hotels in the world. The fact that all Koreans have a reputation for honesty was brought home to me in this hotel. When the souvenir shop closed for the night all they did was cover up the goods with newspapers.

I do not for a minute believe that the chairman thought he was doing anything illegal. In the West it would be called “tax avoidance” and we all hope to do a bit of that.

Meanwhile, it is business as usual as the company renews its ties with Sony for LCD panel production. And at a time when others are cutting back, Samsung is investing billions in enhancing its position as the world’s leading supplier of memory chips. Samsung is a great company that will continue to go from strength to strength.