Overseas Sales Of Pioneer A/V Up In Fiscal Q3
By Jeff Malester -- TWICE, 2/11/2002
TOKYO— Sales of DVD home theater systems in North America, as well as the depreciating yen, helped boost overseas sales of audio/video (A/V) products at Pioneer during the company's fiscal third quarter. Overseas A/V sales climbed 17.2 percent, hitting $356.3 million, up from $304.2 million in the year-ago period.
Total A/V product sales increased 15.2 percent in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, reaching $490.8 million, compared with $426.1 million in the same three months in 2000.
The increase in the yen's depreciation more than offset falling sales of overseas car audio sales at Pioneer, with overseas sales rising 4.7 percent, to $291.8 million, up from $278.8 million in the same quarter the prior year. Intensified competition took the blame for decreasing car audio sales.
Overall car electronics product sales jumped 6.9 percent, reaching $500.7 million, up from $468.4 million in the year-ago third quarter.
Overseas sales in Pioneer's Others segment dropped 12.9 percent, to $156.4 million, down from $179.5 million in the year-ago three months. This decline was attributed to falling sales in North America of speaker devices for cellular phones and digital cable TV set-top boxes, which reduced the favorable impact of both the yen's depreciation and increased sales of DVD-R/RW drives for personal computer makers.
Total sales in Pioneer's electronics business in the third quarter climbed 4.6 percent, reaching $1.26 billion, up from $1.21 billion in the year-ago third quarter. Electronics business operating income in the third quarter fell to $14.3 million, down from $50.2 million in the same quarter in 2000.
For the nine months, total sales in Pioneer's electronics business inched up 2.5 percent, reaching $3.34 billion, compared with $3.26 billion in the same period in 2000. Operating income in the electronics business for the nine months decreased to $12.9 million, down from $78.9 million the previous year.
Pioneer's overall A/V product sales in the nine months moved up 3.8 percent, to $1.19 billion, compared with $1.05 billion in the same period in 2000.
Overall car electronics product sales for the nine months hit $1.46 billion, a 5.5 percent increase over the previous nine months, when sales were $1.38 billion.
