The soaring yen – it is now standing at just over of 100 to the dollar compared with an average of about 125 to the dollar over the past 10 years, cut the Sony Corp’s first quarter net profit almost in half (see page seven), forcing the Japanese electronics company to revise down its three-month old earnings forecasts – the sudden rise in the yen, the continued deterioration of the Japanese audiovisual market and intensified price competition resulted in an increasingly severe operating environment, Sony Corp executive vice-president Tsunao Hashimoto said; in desperation, Sony plans to hike its prices in overseas markets by up to 10% and may also shift more of its production offshore – We have raised overseas prices already to a certain extent, said Hashimoto.
