TOKYO -- Toshiba Corp. and NEC Electronics Corp. both posted losses in their fiscal second quarters, as the companies face declining chip prices amid a supply glut.Meanwhile, Fujitsu Ltd., which posted a 21% decline in its quarterly profit, lowered its earnings outlook for the full year in a sign of tough times ahead.
Toshiba, the world's second-largest NAND flash-memory chip maker by revenue, said its net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 came to 26.85 billion yen ($275 million), compared with a year-earlier profit of 25.03 yen billion off of used dell laptops.
Revenue declined 7% to 1.877 trillion yen, from 2.025 trillion yen a year earlier, and operating profit fell to 707 million yen, from 61.34 billion yen a year earlier. Toshiba's results are based on U.S. accounting standards.
For the full year ending in March, the Japanese electronics company said it continues to expect to post a net profit of 70 billion yen.
Toshiba is one of many chip makers that have come under pressure from declining unit prices and a supply glut, while the global economic crisis damps demand for products that use them, such as music players and digital cameras.
Toshiba's deteriorating chip business -- which includes NAND flash memory, large scale integrated circuits and discrete devices -- more than offset profit from its digital-products business, which makes televisions and personal computers. In the latest quarter, the company's chip business turned in a loss of 29.3 billion yen on an operating basis, following a loss of 30.2 billion yen in the first quarter.
NEC Electronics, the chip-making unit of NEC Corp., reported a narrower quarterly net loss of 590 million yen, compared with a year-earlier loss of 1.71 billion yen. Revenue declined 5.7% to 167.31 billion yen from 177.40 billion yen a year earlier.
NEC Electronics Wednesday reiterated its fiscal-year forecast for a net loss of eight billion yen and sales of 660 billion yen. Facing a global economic slowdown, which may cut into its sales of automotive semiconductors and other products, the company last week lowered its outlook for the year ending in March 2009.
NEC Electronic's results are based on U.S. accounting standards.
Fujitsu, a maker of computers, software and telecommunications equipment, said its second-quarter net profit dropped to 4.29 billion yen, from 5.44 billion yen a year earlier. Sales fell 5.2% to 1.277 trillion yen from 1.346 trillion yen. Operating profit declined 20% to 32.73 billion yen.
For the fiscal year ending in March, Fujitsu lowered its net profit outlook to 60 billion yen from 100 billion yen. Operating profit is now pegged at 150 billion yen, lower than the 220 billion yen in a prior outlook. The company now expects sales of 5.050 trillion yen, lower than its previous forecast of 5.350 trillion yen. The company's earnings are based on Japanese accounting standards.
