Asian giants see recovery signs

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba employee displays the handheld electronic gadget, a direct methanol fuel cell battery "Dynario" for the external power source for digital products such as a smart phone (L) at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on October 26. Upbeat earnings results from Japan's Panasonic and Toshiba, and South Korea's Samsung Electronics have raised hopes that the battered industry is on the mend after a worldwide plunge in demand for electronics due to the global recession.Photo: AFP

Upbeat earnings results from a trio of Asian high-tech titans raised hopes Friday that the battered industry is on the mend after a worldwide plunge in demand for electronics due to the global recession.
Japan's Panasonic and Toshiba returned to profit in the most recent quarter while South Korea's Samsung Electronics posted record earnings for the three months to September.
Sony Corp. fared worse, however, remaining in the red in the most recent quarter in the face of weak demand for its electronics and fierce competition from Samsung.
"Basically we lost to Samsung in terms of the attractiveness of products. We need to admit it," said chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda.
Sony maintained its forecast for its first back-to-back annual losses since it was listed on the stock market in 1958, but it narrowed its loss forecast for the year to 95 billion yen from a previous projection of 120 billion.
"In general, Japanese electronics makers are on course to a recovery after hitting bottom at the end of the previous fiscal year," said Hiroshi Sakai, chief economist at SMBC Friend Research Center.
"But the crucial issue is the year-end shopping season, which will have big impact on their earnings for the fiscal year," he added.
Samsung Electronics said its net profit more than tripled in the third quarter to 3.72 trillion won (3.13 billion dollars) as demand for flat-panel televisions, mobile phones and chips rose in an improving global economy.
Vice president Robert Yi forecast a solid fourth quarter supported by seasonal demand for consumer electronics, but said the won's rise and increased marketing expenses may lead to a quarter-on-quarter decline in profit.
"Samsung has made great progress in strengthening its market leadership throughout 2009, and we believe the outlook is positive for further growth as the global economic recovery continues into 2010," he said in a statement.
Panasonic posted a net profit of 6.1 billion yen (67 million dollars) in the July-September quarter and narrowed its annual loss forecast to 140 billion yen from 195 billion yen.
"Sales fell from a year earlier in all the regions of the world, but the performance is improving steadily," said chief financial officer Makoto Uenoyama.
Toshiba logged a 94 million yen net profit for the July-September quarter, returning to the black after a year-earlier loss of 26.9 billion yen.
Sony posted a net loss of 26.3 billion yen for the fiscal second quarter through September, swinging into the red after a 20.8-billion-yen profit a year earlier.
Japan's high-tech giants have been badly hurt by the global economic slowdown, which bettered demand for their products and sent the yen soaring, reducing the value of their earnings from overseas markets.
Sony chief executive Howard Stringer is slashing 16,000 jobs and axing about 10 percent of the group's manufacturing plants in a bid to return to profit.
The company has had a difficult few years in the face of tough competition from rival products such as Apple's iPod and Nintendo's Wii. In May Sony announced its first annual loss in 14 years.
"We are making efforts to turn our game and television businesses back to black in the next fiscal year," Oneda told reporters.