KYOTO, Japan — Rohm, a Japanese component maker whose business could be harmed by the steady decline in market share among the leaders of Japan’s consumer electronics industry — namely, Sony, Panasonic and Sharp — has good reason to sweat its own prospects.

“We worry our business, too, could start declining,” Katsumi Azuma, Rohm’s director of discrete & module production, told us during a recent interview with EE Times, held at the company’s headquarters in Kyoto.

After all, it’s not just Rohm who might suffer. A ripple effect threatens suppliers of chips, parts and components, who have grown by riding the coattails of Japan’s once-dominant consumer system companies in segments like home entertainment, mobile devices and white goods.

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