Pioneer Electronic Corp’s move to become a Macintosh cloner are put into perspective by Standard & Poor’s Corp’s comments on the big Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer – the move is more one of desperation than one being made from a position of strength. The ratings agency has placed its A2 commercial paper ratings of two subsidiaries – Pioneer Electronics BV and Pioneer Financial Management Inc – of Pioneer Electronic Corp on CreditWatch with negative implications, reflecting its concerns over the weakening ability of the issuers’ parent and guarantor, Pioneer Electronic Corp, to restore profitability to satisfactory levels within the foreseeable future and to stem a further weakening of its historically strong financial profile.Pioneer has made losses for the past 18 months as a result of the sharply deteriorating competitiveness of what used to be some of its strongest performing product categories, and because of generally intensifying competition across its field of products.