Kyocera Corp., which makes semiconductor components, electronic parts and communication equipment, has fully enjoyed this trend. Last year, it posted a profit of 50 billion yen. Toshiba Corp. last month projected a 135 billion yen consolidated aggregate profit for the current year, against its April forecast of 100 billion yen. It reported a loss of 28 billion yen for the year ended March. Toshiba is facing heavy demand for its cellular phones, semiconductors and digital video disk players.
Analysts say the boom is spilling over to other industries.
Broadcasting is enjoying strong orders for advertising for cellular phone services and online stock trading services, while steel producers are busy supplying materials for electronic components. Examples Mr. Evans gave include how Nissho Iwai Corp., a large but wobbling trading house, sold off its textile unit, how the retailer Jusco Co. shut a Shanghai store and how Hitachi Ltd. withdrew from production of computer monitors and outsourced production to a Taiwan company. At a macroeconomic level, most economists predict that the Japanese economy will grow more than 2 percent for the year through March, though government spending on public works will likely contribute significantly to that growth. Last year, gross domestic product grew only 0.5 percent. Kazuo Mizuno, chief economist at Kokusai Securities Co., said the economy was managing to grow but only because the rate of deflation was trailing the growth in the number of goods and services sold.