Hard on the heels of fellow analyst Norbert Hildebrand’s DD column of last Friday (Quo Vadis?), in which he details the struggles of analysts to make sense of the up-and down economy, comes financial news from Sony and Sharp. And it’s not good.

For Q1′09, both companies were swimming in red ink. Sony, which has been struggling to return to the good old days of profitability, posted a $388M loss, according to the New York Times. Overall revenue declined 19% from the same quarter a year ago, leading to an operating loss of about $268M for the quarter.

The culprit? A big decline in sales of PlayStation consoles and computers — down over 37% Y-Y. Sales of Sony LCD TVs were also down, and a $180M loss at the Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications operation also stung. The Times article said chairman Sir Howard Stringer had commenced a new round of cost-cutting remedies, including the elimination of 16,000 and shutting some factories.

Meanwhile, Sharp was singing its own blues, revealing a $266M deficit for Q1′09, according to TWICE. Sales of AV and communications products fell off by 11.9%, particularly in the LCD TV sector. LCD panel sales were also off, dropping by 42% Y-Y. The article mentioned that Asian sales were looking up for Sharp, but steep price cuts on large LCD TVs and slow sales of smaller sizes in North America and Europe were big problems.

Now, it’s no big secret that the TV arena is a tough place to play these days, especially with up-and-coming brands like Vizio making life miserable for the older, established Japanese brands. Vizio’s new $2,200, 55-inch LED-powered 1080p LCD TV is like rubbing salt in the wound.

Part of Sony’s problem is that it has "too many cakes in the oven." The company is too diversified with an excess of business units, according to one analyst mentioned in the Times report. Also, although the Sony brand is strong, it still doesn’t have the cachet of Apple and its myriad i-products. Some of the blame can also be assigned to a stronger yen, which Sony has calculated cost them over $700M in operating profit when compared to Q1′08.

What’s more, the company doesn’t seem to be up to the challenge from Korean diversification behemoth Samsung, who managed to eke out a $26M profit in Q1′09 while selling many of the same CE products into the same sluggish worldwide market.

Samsung’s LCD panel business also turned a profit of about $123M for the quarter, although revenue declined 8.1% Y-Y. The Digital Media division (TV and related products) had a stellar quarter, with revenue hitting $9B (up 13.8% Y-Y) and a net profit of $867M (up 657% Y-Y). Unit sales of LCD TVs grew 10% — an astounding figure in a recession — and the 500,000 of the company’s new line of LED-backlit TVs were sold during the quarter.

The challenges facing Sharp are somewhat different, although they too are diversified into many business lines. For years, Sharp was the #1 brand in LCD sales and revenue, but they’ve been toppled from those posts more than once by Samsung and LG.

Vizio and Samsung have also put a dent into Sharp’s TV business, resulting in more aggressive pricing by the latter — particularly on their new line of CCFL and LED TVs announced just a few weeks ago.

Perhaps motivated to try something new, Sony also announced a LCD TV manufacturing joint venture with Sharp. According to TWICE, Sharp’s new Sakai City Gen 10 LCD fab will operate under the auspices of the new JV, which will be known as Sharp Display Products Corporation. Sony will hold a 34% stake and Sharp will control the rest.

Will this new enterprise help turn the tide of red ink for both companies, or is Sony just doing "more of the same" by further investing billions of yen into Japanese LCD panel production? Wouldn’t both companies be better served instead by off-shoring more of their future LCD panel demand as worldwide TV prices continue to spiral downward?

Off-shoring LCD TV panels might result in improved profitability and greater cost savings while ultimately preserving the value and strength of each company’s retail brands in the United States and Europe.

After all, Apple sells all of the Chinese-made iPhones and iPods it can ship over here. Perhaps the same strategy would be a winner for Sony and Sharp?

But perhaps more importantly is the value of the industrial design that Apple brings to every product it makes. This is clearly a lesson that Samsung is learning, and one that Sony and Sharp should take notice of. Just take a trip to your local Apple and Sony Style store and see if you agree.