* Fujitsu Q2 oper profit down 42 pct vs consensus 46 pct fall
* Retains annual outlook, sees 30 pct profit rise
* Shares edge lower ahead of results in weak market
* NEC Elec sees bigger annual oper loss, more than mkt fcast
* Advantest widens operating loss, orders down 20.6 pct
By Mayumi Negishi and Mariko Katsumura
TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's biggest IT services firm, reported a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly profit as it cut costs, while NEC Electronics' results disappointed, signalling more pain for chip firms.
Fujitsu, the world's No.4 IT services provider, is hurrying to shed non-core operations as the sector sees a series of shake-ups, including Oracle's purchase of Sun Microsystems, amid increasing competition.
Chasing bigger rivals IBM and Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu is restructuring its semiconductor operations, which are grappling with weak demand and fierce competition.
"System integration businesses tend to lag the economy cycle, so I'm not as optimistic about Fujitsu's H2 outlook," said Shigeo Sugawara, senior investment manager at Sompo Japan Asset Management.
Fujitsu, which trails IBM, HP and Dell in IT services, stuck to its forecast for a 90 billion yen annual operating profit, above the 70.8 billion yen average estimate from 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S and up 30 percent from the previous year.
Fujitsu reported an operating profit of 18.9 billion yen for July-September, down 42.2 percent from a year earlier, but beating a consensus estimate for a 17.4 billion yen profit.
Net profit jumped to 72.5 billion yen from 4.3 billion yen a year earlier, on an 11 percent decline in sales.
Rival NEC Electronics reported a far bigger 15.5 billion yen loss in July-September versus a 495 million yen loss a year ago, and cut its annual outlook on weaker sales of its cutting-edge system chips.
NEC Electronics, which is set to merge with Renesas Technology Corp in April, has been hit by weaker demand for its high end system chips, used in Nintendo's Wii game console.
Microchip tester maker Advantest Corp, which vies with Teradyne Inc, saw its operating loss widen to 3.5 billion yen for July-September, up 1.4 billion yen from a year ago. Its orders fell 20.6 percent in July-September.
Fujitsu, whose system chip customers include Canon Inc, said demand for its microchips is set to weaken, and orders had peaked in June.
Japan's sole remaining maker of supercomputers sold its loss-making hard drive business to Toshiba Corp earlier this month as it shifts its focus to IT consulting overseas from its home market.
Ahead of the results, Fujitsu's shares fell 0.2 percent versus a 1.9 percent drop in Tokyo's electrical machinery index. Fujitsu's shares gained 12 percent in July-September, outperforming a 6 percent rise in the index. (Editing by Michael Watson and Anshuman Daga)