Following its downward revision of its profit forecast, Fujitsu Ltd is planning an efficiency drive to save over $330m in capital and research and development expenditure this fiscal year: the company plans to reduce capital expenditure to $917m in the year to March 31, a $250m cut from its original plan, and 45% down on the figure for last year; research and development costs, which, Reuter notes, have hitherto been considered sacred territory at Fujitsu and other Japanese electronics firms, will fall $85m or more from an original plan of $2,875m, which would have been 8.5% up on the previous year; as part of the efficiency drive, Fujitsu also intends to cut down inventories and costs arising from delays in payment by customers, and will also emulate IBM Corp by moving several hundred systems engineers and staff involved in design and development to its sales arm.
