Japan
Telecommunications
Furukawa Electric is considering closing or selling five of the 10 optical fiber plants it bought last autumn from Lucent Technologies for $2.2 billion. With capacity utilization rates remaining low, the company will also cut its work force in related divisions by 20% from the current 3,700 by year-end. The global telecommunications slump has caused the firm to post a fiscal 2001 group net loss.
Hardware
Dell Computer Japan released a 93,800 yen US$750 desktop personal computer for the domestic market. The DIMENSION 4500C is the first Dell Computer product for sale exclusively in Japan. Dell Computer's PC shipments in Japan increased 39.5% to 818,000 in 2001. Dell moved up two notches...
