TOKYO, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Sharp Corp., the pioneer of LCD screens, warned Monday that it expected its net profit to slip in the first half of the business year on rising costs of its investments and raw materials.

But the Japanese company said it still expected sales to increase thanks to robust LCD sales and it did not revise its projections for a full-year rise in net profit.

Sharp projected net profit of 43 billion yen (375 million dollars) for the six months to September 30, down 7.6 percent from the same period the previous year.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Electrolux, the world's leading electrical appliance maker, posted Monday a 73 percent rise in third quarter net profit to 762 million kronor (82.9 million euros, 119 million dollars), but said its full-year result could be hit by a weakening US market.

The Swedish company registered sales of 26.3 billion kronor in the three-month period, up by 1.1 percent from a year ago but slightly below analysts forecasts of 26.5 billion kronor.

TOKYO, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Sony Corp. announced Tuesday a 10 percent price cut for its PlayStation 3 video game console in Japan and plans for a new, cheaper version as it tries to catch up with rival Nintendo.

Sony's games unit said it was lowering the price of the standard 20-gigabyte hard disk drive version of the PS3 to 44,980 yen (384 dollars).

A new version of the PS3 with a 40-gigabyte hard disk drive will also be introduced in Japan on November 11 for 39,980 yen, Sony Computer Entertainment said in a statement.

TOKYO, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Sony Corp.'s games unit said Thursday that it had sold half a million of its new PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game machines in Japan in just two weeks after its launch.

Total sales in September alone reached their highest level for the PSP since the launch of the original in December 2004, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said in a statement.

The new model is slimmer, lighter and comes with new functions and colours designed to appeal to a wider audience including women. It was launched on September 20.

TOKYO, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's TDK Corp. said Wednesday it aims to take full control of subsidiary Densei-Lambda, a power supply specialist, through a buyout bid worth 15.5 billion yen (135 million dollars).

TDK already indirectly owns holds about 58 percent of the Japanese company and will make a tender offer to try to turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary, it said in a statement.

The move aims to achieve 'a drastic and smooth restructuring' of the TDK group's power supply and electronic materials and components businesses, it said.

TOKYO, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Struggling Japanese electronics maker JVC announced Tuesday it aims to slash 1,150 jobs or almost one-fifth of its workforce through early retirements in an effort to reinvigorate its business.

The downsizing is 'an indispensable measure to return to the black in 2007, to strengthen management base in 2008, and achieve a long-term growth strategy by 2009,' Victor Co. of Japan (JVC) said in a statement.

TOKYO, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Troubled Japanese consumer electronics maker Sanyo Electric is considering exiting the market for major household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, a report said Thursday.

Sanyo may withdraw from white goods to focus on more profitable areas such as batteries, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported in its evening edition without naming any sources.

The company said in response that it had not ruled anything out on the fate of the business but that no decision had yet been taken.

BERLIN, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Visitor numbers were up strongly this year at IFA, the world's leading consumer electronics fair, organisers said on Wednesday.

A total 235,000 visitors attended the fair between August 31 and September 5, an increase of 10.6 percent over the previous year, IFA organisers said in a statement.

The number of exhibitors was up 15 percent at 1,212 this year from 32 different countries, and the total exhibition space increased by 12 percent.

TOKYO, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Sharp Corp. said Wednesday it had developed a liquid crystal display television that is less than an inch thick.

The technology used in the prototype allows the company to cut the thickness of a 52-inch flat television to just two centimetres (0.79 inches) for the main display section, less than one quarter that of its current thinnest model.

It has a power consumption half that of existing Sharp models and a much better contrast ratio.

TOKYO, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Toshiba and its partners gained a much-needed boost in the next-generation DVD format war after Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation said they would exclusively support HD DVD.

The decision to drop the rival Blu-ray format is a blow to Sony Corp. and its partners, who have scored some valuable points recently in the tussle in high-definition DVDs.

TOKYO, Aug 11, 2007 (AFP) - Troubled Japanese firm Sanyo Electric Co. denied Saturday that it had decided to sell its mobile phone manufacturing unit.

'We are conducting various reviews in order to strengthen our mobile phone handset operation, but we have not made any decision to sell the operation,' the firm said in a brief statement.

Media reports earlier Saturday said the company had already begun talks with domestic electronics firms about the disposal of the business unit.

TOKYO, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese optical glass maker Hoya Corp. said Tuesday that it had succeeded in a friendly takeover bid for Pentax Corp. that values the camera icon at about 104 billion yen (877 million dollars).

Hoya said it had secured a 90.58 percent stake in Pentax after a long on-off takeover saga beset by shareholder resistance and a boardroom rift at the camera maker.

It will pay about 94.5 billion yen in cash for the stake in Pentax, a pioneer of single-lens reflex cameras.

TOKYO, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Konica Minolta said Thursday its net profits surged by over 50 percent in the fiscal first quarter thanks to brisk sales of colour printers, the weak yen and restructuring of its business.

The company last year jettisoned its trademark camera business to focus on more profitable advanced electronics goods such as multi-function photocopiers and printers -- a decision which appears to be paying off.

TOKYO, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it would invest about 3.2 billion dollars in a huge new plant making liquid crystal display panels for large screen televisions -- a key battleground for electronics makers.

The pioneer of LCD screens aims to increase its competitive edge over rivals with the high-tech new plant, which it hopes will drive down costs.

PARIS, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - French media technology group Thomson reported reduced net losses in the first half on Thursday but also reported a fall in operating profit and its shares were down 11.08 percent in mid-day trade here.

The company said it had narrowed its net losses in the first half to 20 million euros (27.4 million dollars), against 71 million euros in the same period a year earlier, and confirmed its objectives for 2007-2009.

PARIS, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - French media technology group Thomson reported reduced net losses in the first half on Thursday but also reported a fall in operating profit and its shares fell by 14.06 percent here.

The company said it had narrowed its net losses in the first half to 20 million euros (27.4 million dollars), against 71 million euros in the same period a year earlier and confirmed its objectives for 2007-2009.

Thomson shares fell by 14.06 percent to 12.10 euros on a Paris market.

PARIS, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - French media technology group Thomson reported reduced net losses in the first half on Thursday but also reported a fall in operating profit and the price of its shares slumped on the Paris market.

The company said it had narrowed its net losses in the first half to 20 million euros (27.4 million dollars), against 71 million euros in the same period a year earlier and confirmed its objectives for 2007-2009.

Thomson shares fell by 7.74 percent to 12.99 euros on a Paris market which gained 0.17 percent.