Japanese companies top Asia's tech stock performance in 2015

Tokyo

WHO'DA thunk it? Japanese companies became Asia's best-performing technology stocks in 2015, as the country often identified with fading electronics giants produced such stand-outs as Maple Story developer Nexon Co.

Nexon marked the fourth straight year that a Japanese game company has topped a list that encompasses Internet players and makers of semiconductors, displays and enterprise software. The maker of games for computers and smartphones climbed about 76 per cent, the biggest increase last year on the 111-member MSCI Asia Pacific Information Technology Index, excluding recently added Chinese American Depositary Receipts traded in New York.

In a testament to the rising earnings power of Asian mobile gaming, Japan's GungHo Online Entertainment Inc held the top spots in both 2012 and 2013 as it rode the smash-hit Puzzle & Dragons to a more than 40-fold surge. Mixi Inc took the crown in 2014 afte…