Japanese Companies Fight Rising Yen Value

With the yen is at some of its highest levels in years, it's hard for many Japanese exporters to make a profit. Now, some companies are taking matters into their own hands to bring back profits.

Major Japanese companies are starting to implement new countermeasures to minimize the impact of the surging currency.

Some, like consumer electronics giant, Sony, are remodeling their pricing strategies.

According to the Nikkei newspaper, Sony is raising the prices for some of the latest models of its Vaio-brand personal computers in the U.S. and European markets to make up for the expected lower revenue.

A strong yen makes Japan's products more expensive, and also translates into less earnings when overseas sales are converted to the yen and sent back to Japan.

Other manufacturers are adjusting their production strategies.

Nissan's chief operating officer told Reuters yesterday that the appreciating yen could have a negative impact on its financial results, and it plans to increase the imports of car parts to help offset the impact.

Japan's number three automaker has used a 90 yen to the dollar level for this business year.

Rivals Toyota and Honda have also announced plans to increase proportions of foreign-made parts for their vehicles assembled in Japan.

The Japanese yen hit a new 15-year high against the dollar this week and a nine year high against the euro.

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