SoftBank Group Corp. and video game-makers are emerging as rare beneficiaries of the weaker yen, which no longer offers the clear advantage to Japan’s corporate sector that it did a decade ago.
Automakers and electronics-makers including Sony Group Corp. once welcomed a softer yen to bolster their competitiveness abroad and inflate the value of their repatriated profits. But after shifting production overseas in recent years to secure growth and resilient supply chains, many of them see a mixed — or mostly neutral — effect from the yen’s free fall to 20-year lows, according to industry executives and analysts.
For some consumer-facing companies, including Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing Co., the latest slump in the yen is a negative factor, exacerbating the impact of surging raw materials costs and higher energy prices amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.