Kenwood exits Japan mobile phone market, forecasts profit in first half
The Tokyo financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Kenwood Corporation, Tokyo, halted production of mobile phones for Japan at the end of October.
The company had made mobile phones for use on the J-Phone wireless voice, data and Internet network in Japan. But an effort to focus on more competitive products, including various in-car devices, led Kenwood to discontinue its J-Phone product.
The company already had reported sales gains for its two-way radio communications products in the United States during the first half of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30. (See story here.)
More recently, Kenwood revised upward its fiscal first-half forecast for overall corporate results from break-even to include a profit of $6.4 million after three years of losses. Kenwood credited cost-cutting measures that included steep worker retirements, some layoffs and several plant closures for the forecast return to profitability.