Japanese high-tech giant Toshiba today slashed its net profit forecast for the current financial year by about 30% after admitting defeat in the high-definition DVD format war.
The group, which trimmed its revenue target by 1.3%, said that fierce competition in the market for flash memory chips used in portable music players and other devices was also weighing on its bottom line.
'Net sales are expected to be lower than previously forecast, reflecting the discontinuation of the HD DVD business and the decline in sales prices of NAND flash memories,' a company statement said.
Toshiba now expects a net profit of 125 billion yen ($1.25 billion) in the financial year to March 31, which would be lower than the previous year's earnings of 137.4 billion yen.
Revenue is expected to rise to 7.70 trillion yen from 7.12 trillion a year ago. Operating profit is seen declining to 230 billion yen from 258.4 billion.
Toshiba announced last month it would withdraw from the high-definition DVD business, clearing the way for the Blu-ray format developed by Sony and its partners to become the industry standard for next-generation discs.
