Japanese electronics companies suffer losses

The companies partly blamed the losses on the historic earthquake that hit Japan in MarchSome blamed the losses on a weak dollarA few companies report profits

Tokyo (CNN) -- Four of Japan's leading electronics companies lost more than $1.5 billion in the first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

The companies partly blamed the losses on the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit Japan in March.

Electronics giant Sony, who reported losing $191 million, said in its financial report that the losses were "due mainly to the negative impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake as well as the deterioration of the electronics business environment."

Panasonic reported $390 million in losses for the first quarter. Sharp reported a loss of $630 million. Nintendo reported a loss of $327 million.

The governor of the region where many of these manufacturers are based blamed the losses on a weak dollar.

"With a strong yen below 80 and a weak dollar, times are very hard for manufacturers in Japan," Aichi Gov. Hideaki Oomura said. "And if manufacturers in Aichi are having trouble, then the whole Japanese economy is in trouble."

But not all companies were down.

Softbank reported $1.21 billion in profits, attributed to the company's work with products like the iPhone. Toshiba also reported $6 million in profits.

Quoting : CNN