By Eric Pfanner
TOKYO-- Fanuc Corp., a Japanese maker of industrial robots and
machine tools used in the making of Apple Inc.'s iPhones and other
smartphones, said Monday it plans to spend about Yen100 billion
($842 million) to build new factories in Japan.
The move follows news last week that New York-based hedge fund
investor Daniel Loeb had acquired a stake in Fanuc. Mr. Loeb, in a
letter to investors, wrote that "Fanuc reminds us of Apple in its
product approach" but called on the company to buy back shares in
order to put some of its $8.5 billion in cash to work for
investors.
Fanuc, a secretive company based at the foot of Mount Fuji, is
one of a number of Japanese parts, materials and machine tool
companies that are quietly thriving as the country's better-known
electronics giants struggle. Increasing investment in domestic
manufacturing is a major goal of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
economic policy.
Fanuc said the new factories would be located in Tochigi
prefecture, north of Tokyo, and would make computer-controlled
cutting machines, servo motors and servo amplifiers. Production
start is slated for October 2016.
Fanuc in September sharply upgraded its earnings outlook for the
fiscal year ending March 31. Analysts cited strong sales of machine
tools for smartphone assembly plants in China as a big reason.
In early trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, news of the
plan to expand production helped Fanuc's share price rise 4% to a
fresh year-high.
Write to Eric Pfanner at eric.pfanner@wsj.com
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