NEC Corp, the world’s second largest maker of semiconductors, has suffered slightly as declining sales of semiconductors forced pre-tax profits down 20%. The company blamed the slow down on the world wide plunge in memory chip prices. But sales of telecommunications products boosted turnover and profits. Net profits for the year to March 31 rose 18.7% to $789.3m on turnover up 12.5% to $42.64bn. Telecoms equipment sales rose 38% to $14.54bn and this sector now accounts for 34% of group sales. The number of mobile subscribers rocketed past the 10 million mark in Japan last year, inflating NEC’s mobile equipment sales. The company also saw increased demand for its non-mobile telecoms equipment as corporate customers continue to spend on networking and internet related hardware. Computer sales rose 7% while sales of electronic devices (including semiconductors) fell by 6.8%. The company predicts net profits for the current year of $793m.
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