Takuma Yamamoto
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He became President of Fujitsu in June 1981. He had no shareholding behind him; as of March 1980 the top shareholders were corporations, Fuji Electric Manufacturing with 21.38%, Asahi Mutual Life Insurance with 9.36% and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank with 9.00%, and no individual made the top ten. The stake of the former parent, Fuji Electric Manufacturing, had fallen by more than half in 17 years from 48.3% in March 1963, and the influence of capital over presidential appointments had weakened.
Selection
In June 1981 he succeeded Taiyu Kobayashi as President. In the fiscal year ended March 1981, the year before he took office, net sales were ¥581.678 billion and ordinary income ¥32.417 billion, with sales up 2.3 times in five years. Having just overtaken IBM Japan in domestic sales in May 1980, the next task was where to position products after losing the rival it had been chasing. Targeting a conglomerate like NEC, which championed C&C, required strategy, not just furious pursuit.
Initiatives
In November 1985, under the banner of moving beyond IBM, he launched a product offensive into new markets beyond mainframes, such as communications equipment, AI and PCs. In June that year the PC strategy was reported as a new product offensive so aggressive that it astonished distributors. In February 1986 the company established NIF as a joint venture with Nissho Iwai, laying the business that would later become Nifty. Breaking away from reliance on mainframes alone built depth across three pillars and at the same time created a structure that held communications, computers and semiconductors simultaneously.
Career
Career
Fujitsu
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1949 | Joined Fuji Tsushinki Manufacturing |
| 1975 | Director |
| 1976 | Managing Officer |
| 1979 | Senior Managing Officer |
| Jun 1981 | President |
| Jun 1990 | Chairman |
| Jun 1990 | Stepped down as President |