A careless remark, or a subtle message?

Former Sony (SNE) chairman Nobuyuki Idei sat down with the FT to talk about the state of Japan's struggling electronics industry, and said devices like Nintendo's (NTDOY) Wii gives him faith Japan can continue to deliver high-quality, innovative products.

The Wii of course competes directly against Sony's PS3, and has been crushing the Sony device in sales, both in the US and Japan.

For the future, Mr Idei tipped electronics that do not just process information, but sense what it is happening in the world and then act on it.

He gave Nintendo's Wii games console - which uses accelerometers to measure how a user is moving the controls - as an example.

It is the cluster of Kyoto-based technology companies, including Nintendo, that makes Mr Idei confident in the future of Japan's electronics industry.

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