According to the article, which quotes Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Pentax looks set to shed its status as the only Hoya division not turning a profit. Cost-cutting by its new owner - including workforce reductions and the closure of Pentax's sole remaining Japanese digital camera factory - is apparently working, with Nikkei reporting that the camera brand likely turned its first profit in seven straight quarters. In the last year, Hoya has introduced two new single-lens reflex digital camera models under the brand - the impressive Pentax K-7 being an entirely new design following on from the previous K10D and K20D models, and the Pentax K-x which refreshes the K2000 / K-m design with a variety of new features.

Equally interesting is the commentary from Hoya Chief Operating Officer Hiroshi Hamada, formerly of Dell Inc. According to Hamada-san, the company plans for the Pentax brand to continue, but expects a period of consolidation ahead for the camera industry. For this reason, Hoya is apparently seeking a closer relationship with an electronics company than Pentax currently enjoys with Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.. He goes on to suggest that it hasn't yet been decided whether that will mean expanding the existing relationship with Samsung, or moving on to start a new alliance with another company.

More details can be found in the Bloomberg article.