Kym
17-11-2010, 2:53pm
http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/investor/investor_09_23.html
In HOYA ’ s Pentax brand digital cameras, the number of single lens reflex
cameras sold rose from a year ago, reflecting continued robust demand for
entry-level cameras, which in turn resulted in higher sales of interchangeable
lenses.
And in classic Japanese speak:
We normally show photographs of endoscopic devices on the Quarterly Report. This time we are also showing photos of our new digital cameras, the 645D and K-5, because they are very good products.
(FYI Japanese FY is April to March)
We cannot expect a very good result for the third quarter. Cameras are not selling well, and this will continue. It seems that SLR cameras will grow by 20% over the previous year in terms of both production and sales. However, compact cameras will continue to experience sluggish growth and will return to the level of 2008. I think growth of 3-4% over the previous year would be all we can reasonably expect. While the economic slowdown and other trends have been cited, the problem with compact cameras lies in the market structure. Compact cameras will not grow significantly hereafter because the performance of cameras incorporated in smartphones and mobile phones will continue to improve. Compact cameras have become ubiquitous, so perhaps this is no longer a growth industry.
Pentax cameras delivered some profit in the first quarter, but we were not very optimistic about the second quarter because it is a bad season. The result was a modest loss, almost in line with our expectations.
In the third quarter, which is our peak season, we will release a significant number of new products: two SLR camera models and three or four compact cameras. We have already delivered them to stores in each region.
We do not yet know how well they will sell, but the K-5, a middle-grade product, has been strong partly because of limited quantity. The 645D medium format digital cameras, for which we made bullish projections, have been selling as well as we expected, attracting customers all over the world. At the moment, we are delivering the K-r, an entry model SLR camera offered in 100 different color combinations, and compact cameras. So we have yet to see how well they sell. However, we cannot permit ourselves to fail with these models, so we will focus our efforts on sales promotion.
In HOYA ’ s Pentax brand digital cameras, the number of single lens reflex
cameras sold rose from a year ago, reflecting continued robust demand for
entry-level cameras, which in turn resulted in higher sales of interchangeable
lenses.
And in classic Japanese speak:
We normally show photographs of endoscopic devices on the Quarterly Report. This time we are also showing photos of our new digital cameras, the 645D and K-5, because they are very good products.
(FYI Japanese FY is April to March)
We cannot expect a very good result for the third quarter. Cameras are not selling well, and this will continue. It seems that SLR cameras will grow by 20% over the previous year in terms of both production and sales. However, compact cameras will continue to experience sluggish growth and will return to the level of 2008. I think growth of 3-4% over the previous year would be all we can reasonably expect. While the economic slowdown and other trends have been cited, the problem with compact cameras lies in the market structure. Compact cameras will not grow significantly hereafter because the performance of cameras incorporated in smartphones and mobile phones will continue to improve. Compact cameras have become ubiquitous, so perhaps this is no longer a growth industry.
Pentax cameras delivered some profit in the first quarter, but we were not very optimistic about the second quarter because it is a bad season. The result was a modest loss, almost in line with our expectations.
In the third quarter, which is our peak season, we will release a significant number of new products: two SLR camera models and three or four compact cameras. We have already delivered them to stores in each region.
We do not yet know how well they will sell, but the K-5, a middle-grade product, has been strong partly because of limited quantity. The 645D medium format digital cameras, for which we made bullish projections, have been selling as well as we expected, attracting customers all over the world. At the moment, we are delivering the K-r, an entry model SLR camera offered in 100 different color combinations, and compact cameras. So we have yet to see how well they sell. However, we cannot permit ourselves to fail with these models, so we will focus our efforts on sales promotion.