Toshiba says its quarterly net profit has fallen 62 percent from last year, with a decline in demand for its televisions, computers and other digital products.
The Japanese technology and engineering giant said on Wednesday it earned 23.01 billion yen in the three months between January and March 2013, the last quarter of its fiscal year.
That was down from 61.22 billion yen in the same three months a year earlier.
“The global economy remained uncertain,” Toshiba said. “Although the United States continued to see gradual recovery, Europe has entered a recession accompanied by deepening anxieties for sovereign debt. The slowdown in growth in emerging economies, such as China and Southeast Asia, also had a negative effect.
“There are few prospects for immediate improvement in sight. The downturn in Europe is expected to be prolonged, and it is possible that growth will slow in the U.S. and China,” it added.
Electronics manufacturers worldwide are struggling to profit from making televisions with increasing competition in the low-margin market. Profit margins in Toshiba’s memory chip unit improved but the yen’s depreciation has hurt its flat-panel television and personal computer businesses.
“The visual products business saw sales slide on a deepening decline in demand in Japan and sluggish sales in the United States and China,” Toshiba said. “The PC business also recorded a decrease on lower unit sales, due to eroding demand in the United States, while Japan and Europe saw flat sales.”
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