Fitch Ratings has dealt a blow to two of Japan's most famous brands: Sony and Panasonic. Now their credit ratings have been downgraded to junk. Fitch says they are both facing 'weakness in their business'.

First to Sony. And take a look at its share price. Since March of this year, it's fallen 52%. Just look at the slide right here. Now in its last fiscal year, Sony lost 5.7 billion dollars and that is a record. Fitch released this statement to explain its decision earlier today saying that meaningful recovery will be slow, given the company's loss of technology leadership in key products, high competition, weak economic conditions in developed markets as well as the strong yen.

Now it's a similar picture for Panasonic. Since March, the company's share price has fallen by about 46%. And in its last fiscal year, Panasonic lost a record 9.7 billion dollars. Today Fitch said Panasonic isn't competitive in its core businesses, especially in its television and flat panel divisions, a once silver lining though. Fitch did say the company is on the right track in restructuring. The downgrades came, though, after the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed. We will see how investors react on Friday.