Fujitsu: Up in the Cloud

Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's biggest IT services provider, has plans to boost investment in cloud computing by 54% this year to accelerate its operations in one of the IT sector's hottest areas. The company also has plans to get more global partnerships and acquisitions to expand its software and product offerings. In its plan of acquisition the company is targeting on software firms.

Fujitsu, ranked as the world's third biggest IT services vendor after IBM and Hewlett-Packard, plans to spend $1.1 billion or the majority of what it has allotted for its annual capital expenditure, on its cloud computing business by March 2011.

"This field offers new challenges but it is also a business chance with big growth potential," Yamamoto told a briefing. "We will make a groupwide effort to build up our cloud business this year."

Fijitsu with the right plans being executed in the right way, is expecting operating profit to double to 185 billion yen, from the current year to March. 250 billion yen in operating profit is what the company has targeted on for 2011/12 and 130 billion yen in net profit.

Shinkin Asset Management fund manager Tomomi Yamashita said “There have been market fears that Fujitsu would cut its earnings outlook, and the company's decision not to change its forecast could be seen as a positive.” He added that “Recovering IT demand has not been reflected in Fujitsu's share price. They can expect a boost from IT services...I don't think these expectations are fully factored into the share price, so it's cheap."