Konica Minolta 2009 Annual Report Download - page 10

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How did Konica Minolta perform in
FY March 2009?
We faced completely different situations in the first
and second halves.
In the first half, we did well under our genre-top
strategy, particularly in color MFP and production
printing fields in our Business Technologies business.
The strong performers in the Optics business were
VA-TAC films for large-size LCD televisions, optical
pickup lenses for Blu-ray format, and glass hard disk
substrates. Optics business generated record earnings
on the half-year basis.
But the operating climate changed for the worse in
the second half, as the bankruptcy of a leading U.S.
financial institution in September 2008 triggered
financial instability worldwide, which hit the real
economy hard. Corporate customers for our MFPs
responded by slashing costs and significantly reducing
capital investments, while financial market turmoil
prompted leasing firms to tighten credit standards.
New installations of our MFPs thus slackened.
For Optics business, digital appliance makers, our
key customers, responded to a chill in consumer
demand by suddenly slashing production. Order
volumes thus plunged. To make matters worse, the
yen surged from the second half, so our businesses
and results suffered significantly.
We acted urgently to reduce costs to safeguard
profitability for the fiscal year under review and set
Interview
with the President
Masatoshi Matsuzaki
8
Innovation
Q
A