Fuji outlines digital strategy!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Tuesday, June 12, 2001 - 21:03 EDT)
In interviews with Reuters' Edmund Klamann, the Japanese manufacturer discusses its plans in the emerging digital marketplace...
Press agency Reuters has today posted a news item detailing Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd.'s plans for the digital imaging marketplace. Reuters' Edmund Klamann spoke with Fuji executives for the piece, which reveals a number of interesting points: - Fuji is aiming for a 25% share of the global market. Last year, Nikkei Market Access reported that Fuji had a 15.2% share; the company claims a 20% figure for the year.
- Fuji doesn't agree with the idea that the entry-level market is vital to be present in; the company instead thinks entry-level has unnecessary risk due to the need for high sales volumes to get high profits - something that could potentially leave a company with vast quantities of unsold cameras in warehouses.
- Fuji launched 9 digital camera models last year; it plans to have 10 models this year.
- Company execs consider digital cameras to have a short shelf-life 'like fresh produce' - cameras have a life expectancy of about a year, and can only create a profit for about half of that time.
- Fuji's reasoning for creating things like sensors in-house (most companies make their digicams with off-the-shelf sensors or even buy in the entire digicam design from a third party) is that this allows for quicker reaction to marketplace changes. The company keeps costs down by doing more than half of its digital camera assembly in China...
- The company is working hard to create a 'consumables' market for digital photos, as it stands to lose at least a large part of its film consumables market to digital imaging. One example of this is a network of 1,000 digital photo kiosks in 7-Eleven stores across Japan which provide prints at a cost of ¥50 (¢41) each.
- Fuji says it isn't planning to create a link between its acquisition of NEC's laser printer operations or its increased (now 75%) stake in Fuji Xerox Corp. to its digital photo printing operations. Analysts however are expecting that the company will look for possible links in the future.
- The company isn't expecting a drastic decline in the film business, and in fact expects emerging film markets in India and China to take up the slack created by digital elsewhere.
- Fuji already gets 40%+ of its revenues from digital products.
- The company has seen an almost 30% gain in its share price over the past year, whilst the Nikkei average has fallen nearly 25% in the same time...
The article can be read in its entirity on the Reuters website.
Source:
Reuters
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