Panasonic profit falls on tough rivalry, yen

Panasonic Corp has posted a worse-than-expected 5.6% fall in quarterly profit as tough price competition and a stronger yen offset help from Japan’s incentive scheme and its buyout of subsidiary Sanyo Electric.
Panasonic, the world’s fourth-largest TV maker after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Sony Corp, is struggling to catch up in smartphones and tablets, a market dominated by Apple Inc and with Samsung emerging as a key rival.
Investors are eyeing Panasonic’s ability to restructure quickly and show benefits after its deal with Sanyo Electric, which is aimed at sharpening the company’s focus on environmental technologies like solar power systems and rechargeable batteries.
The company is expected to provide an update on integration plans later this year.
Panasonic reported an operating profit of ¥95.36bn ($1.17bn) for October-December, lagging the average forecast of ¥109.1bn from a poll of six analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The maker of Viera TVs and Lumix cameras left its full-year profit outlook at ¥310bn, compared with a consensus of ¥328bn in a poll of 20 analysts. Operating profit for the year to March 2010 was 190bn yen.