TOKYO, JAPAN - JAPANESE electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd has asked some 100,000 employees in Japan to buy its appliances to boost the company's flagging performance, an official said on Tuesday.

President Kuniaki Nozoe recently sent an email to employees of Fujitsu and its group companies in Japan, saying, 'Let's protect our company by ourselves.

'Buy Fujitsu,' said the email, adding, 'If everyone in the group gets together, then it will become a great power.

'This is not a compulsory order,' a company spokesman said. 'This is asking for a favour.'

The move aims to boost Fujitsu's earnings amid weakening demand, she said.

Fujitsu is not the only Japanese company hoping to get a sales boost from its workers.

A group of 2,200 Toyota managers has decided to buy the company's cars in an effort to help the Japanese auto giant withstand the global economic crisis, although the company said it had played no role in the initiative. -- AFP