Fujitsu mulls Vietnam production shift


CEO Naoyuki Akikusa hopes to steer Fujitsu to break-even this year and is selling a U.S. chip complex

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Fujitsu Ltd. expects to stop making circuit boards at its plants in Japan and move the production to Vietnam, a spokesman said Thursday.

"We're looking at consolidating production at the facility in Vietnam," Robert Pomeroy told CNN. But the decision is not final, he added.

Circuit boards go into many telecommunications devices, including cell phones and computers. Fujitsu also makes many of the products that use circuit boards.

The Tokyo-based company goes head to head with NEC for the top spot in Japanese personal-computer sales.

Cheaper land and labor

The company plans to move circuit-board production to Fujitsu Computer Products of Vietnam. Labor and land are both cheaper in that country.

Fujitsu tallied sales of 34 billion yen ($293 million) from its print-board business last fiscal year.

The computer maker has been employing 1,000 people to make circuit boards at three factories, in Nagano, Hyogo and Tochigi prefectures.

The company did not confirm a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun that it will cease those operations in October.

Nagano likely to win development center

"The details and timing haven't been finalized yet," Pomeroy said. He noted that the factories also make other goods and that may or may not continue.

The Nagano factory is, however, likely to win a new product-development company. Fujitsu says that is "under consideration."

The company will set that up by January 2003, the Nikkei stated on Thursday. The company is also Japan's fifth-largest chipmaker.

Fujitsu said on Wednesday it is selling a U.S. chip complex in Oregon to Microchip Technology Inc. for $183.5 million.

The company lost almost $3 billion last year (full story). It expects to break even this business year, which runs through March 2003.