<Digital Cameras>
Cameras were more profitable than we expected. It was our best quarter since the merger.
We moved into the black (making profit) because we released a number of new products in
the 3rd quarter; reorganized our sales channels; and kept reasonable prices of our products.
We also achieved a surplus for the accumulated total for the first three quarters of the year.
The 4th quarter is tough due to seasonal factors, but we aim to finish in the black for the full
year.
We have been rapidly improving income and moving in the direction of becoming “a
small but distinct camera manufacturer”.
We forecast that, industry-wide in the next fiscal year, SLR cameras will grow 15%, but
compact cameras will not match that due to the influence of smartphones and mobile phones.
Mirrorless cameras are not so common in countries outside Japan. We were not influenced
by this trend because we have not entered the market for mirrorless cameras. We released
two conventional SLR cameras, which worked well.
We do anticipate, however, that
mirrorless cameras will be prevalent in a few years, and we have started making plans
accordingly. In addition, we do not offer bad inventory of cameras at cut-off prices.