Dubai: The relentless rise of the yen is posing a major headache for most of the ‘Made in Japan' technology brands. They are at a crossroads and face a tough choice to escape the impact, said Yuji Furukawa, Representative Director and senior managing executive officer, Brother International, told Gulf News.
He said 70 per cent of the company's printers are exported and billed in dollars. A strong Japanese currency hurts the nation's key export sector by making made in Japan goods less competitive abroad and cutting into repatriated overseas earnings.
"A rapidly appreciating yen has hurt Japanese exports and jeopardises the country's recovery from the twin disasters — March 11 earthquake and tsunami," he said.
Santosh Varghese, Toshiba Gulf Computer systems division general manager, told Gulf News the effect is also being felt at his company.
"Toshiba will definitely be affected at the corporate level. The earnings in dollars will give lower earnings in yen in light of the current exchange rate."
According to Goldman Sachs the Bank of Japan's pledge to keep interest rates at zero had virtually no impact on the yen and anything short of an outright intervention in the currency market is unlikely to arrest the yen's rise against the dollar.
