Hitachi to Retreat From Mobile-Phone Memory Chips (Update2)
By Yoshifumi Takemoto and Ian Messer
quote.bloomberg.com
Tokyo, Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Hitachi Ltd., which expects a loss of 230 billion yen ($1.7 billion) this fiscal year, will withdraw from the mobile-phone memory-chip market in the next two years to avoid competition with U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc.
Japan's third-largest chipmaker will phase out the production of flash-memory and static random-access memory chips, Hideo Inayoshi, a senior manager at Hitachi's chip business, said in an interview. Hitachi will focus on system LSI chips and microprocessors for consumer appliances and cars.
``This is a step in the right direction for Hitachi,'' said Sadaharu Nagumo, who helps manage 20 billion yen in assets, including Hitachi shares, at Japan Investment Trust Management Co. ``They have a mountain of businesses and they're right to exit some and narrow their focus.''
Like other Japanese chipmakers, Hitachi is retreating from the computer-memory chip business after prices last year fell below the cost of production. Hitachi, whose mobile-phone memory- chip business is also unprofitable, is farming out production of dynamic random-access memory chips to a joint venture with NEC Corp., Japan's second-largest chipmaker. |
