CDFreaks has covered the struggles of several major electronics companies over the past year, and the carnage continues to pile up as the global economy continues to falter. Similar to other chip makers founded in Japan, Fujitsu has found its semiconductor unit in serious trouble, with the company expecting nothing but bad news in the coming months.
The company expects to post its first net loss since fiscal year 2002, finishing this March in the red $403 million.
"I have absolutely no confidence in the fiscal year 2009," Fujitsu CFO Kazuhiko Kato said during a recent press conference. "I have no clue what the outlook will be. With this current situation, we will need to implement more emergency measures, such as mergers among our device-producing subsidiaries because there are too many."
As the consumer market continues to slump, Fujitsu's biggest markets -- including PCs, HDDs, chips, components and mobiles phones -- are lowering in price while consumer demand continues to decline. Fujitsu will consolidate its Fujitsu Microelectronics subsidiary, which will force a $10 billion yen restructuring loss over the next few months.
This March, Fujitsu expects to end production of all read/write heads for HDDs while it takes a closer look at its HDD business. All 360 employees that work at a Fujitsu facility specializing in read/write heads will be reassigned -- not laid off -- as the company tries to figure out what it's going to do.
The Japanese tech industry has struggled over recent times, with NEC, Toyota, Honda, Hitachi, Sony, and other major companies joining alongside Fujitsu when it comes to severe drops in profit, lower consumer demand, and a strengthening yen.
