Profit slips at Japanese technology firms; four top companies post weak results, and more are expected to follow

Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp, NEC Corp and Mitsubishi Electric Corp report decreases in unconsolidated pretax profit for the first half ended Sep 30, 1991, signaling that impacts of the US recession are wide-reaching. Hitachi pretax profit fell 27 percent to 80.16 billion yen; Toshiba pretax profit fell 63 percent to 38.53 billion yen; NEC's fell 6.8 percent to 52.06 billion yen; and Mitsubishi's fell 25 percent to 46.84 billion yen. Toshiba, NEC and Mitsubishi all reduced previously announced profit forecasts for the year ending Mar 31, 1992. Compared to record high earnings the year previous, the companies are affected by Japan's slowing economy and a weak computer market in the US. To cope, the companies reduce capital spending and delay product introduction. The end result could be that Japanese companies shift from trying to make many types of products to focusing on specific technologies.