TOKYO, Japan - Following fast on the heels of rival Nikon, Konica Minolta Holdings has announced its intention to exit the film camera market, where the going has been very tough due to intense competition as well as dipping demand.
Konica Minolta shares jumped by 10 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which has been reeling for most of this week following the Livedoor scandal. Shares in Fuji Photo Film Co and Sony Corp also gained following this announcement.
Fuji will benefit from Konica Minolta's withdrawal, as it will give it a clear playing field as far as film cameras are concerned. Sony will take over the digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera segment of Konica following an agreement to this effect last July.
The company, which is the world's third-largest maker of photographic film, has been facing a tough time on the market as companies like Canon are eating into its market share. Konica Minolta is shouldering a ¥90 billion (£445 million) restructuring bill and plans to cuts its global staff by 11 percent. This means that roughly 3,700 jobs are slated to be culled by September 2007. There have been no indications as to where exactly this downsizing will take place.
The company has also announced that it was slated to lose ¥47 billion in this financial year and intends to concentrate on the more profitable ventures like making parts for liquid crystal display, printers, photocopies and medical diagnostic equipment.
In a statement announcing the shutting down of the film camera business, Konica Minolta said, "Our cameras have been the pillar that shouldered all of our branding efforts, but in order to secure future growth we realize we have to bring the curtain down on the business."
Posted
on : Fri, 20 Jan 2006 08:50 GMT | General News
By : Mike Lawson
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