Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 12

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imaging฀products
When฀Nikon฀adopted฀its฀new฀corporate฀brand฀symbol,฀
we฀chose฀the฀branding฀statement฀“At฀the฀heart฀of฀the฀
image”฀to฀summarize฀our฀commitment฀to฀customers.฀
The฀emphasis฀in฀the฀digital฀camera฀market฀continues฀
to฀shift฀toward฀models฀with฀higher฀megapixel฀CCD฀
image฀sensors.฀Even฀compact฀digital฀cameras฀now฀
have฀CCD฀image฀sensors฀with฀3฀or฀4฀megapixels;฀the฀
time฀is฀approaching฀when฀5฀or฀even฀8฀megapixels฀
will฀be฀the฀norm.฀I฀am฀confi฀dent฀that฀this฀ongoing฀
shift฀will฀suit฀the฀strengths฀of฀Nikon,฀since฀we฀enjoy฀
an฀advantage฀in฀advanced฀imaging฀technology.฀We฀
know฀exactly฀what฀customers฀are฀looking฀for฀in฀terms฀
of฀a฀true฀image.฀Our฀goal฀is฀to฀develop฀digital฀imaging฀
technology฀to฀enable฀customers฀to฀enjoy฀this฀brave฀
new฀world฀of฀digital฀images.฀To฀do฀this฀requires฀a฀com-
mand฀not฀just฀of฀the฀digital฀camera฀hardware฀but฀also฀
of฀the฀image-processing฀software,฀as฀well฀as฀a฀wide฀
range฀of฀peripheral฀devices.฀Nikon฀is฀a฀name฀intimately฀
associated฀with฀photography,฀and฀so฀we฀must฀take฀up฀
the฀challenge฀of฀developing฀products฀that฀embody฀the฀
concept฀“at฀the฀heart฀of฀the฀image.”
We฀retain฀a฀dominant฀position฀due฀to฀our฀pioneer-
ing฀development฀of฀the฀SLR-type฀digital฀camera.฀In฀
November฀2003,฀we฀launched฀the฀D2H,฀a฀professional฀
lens-interchangeable฀SLR-type฀digital฀camera฀fi฀tted฀
with฀our฀original฀LBCAST฀image฀sensor฀that฀can฀take฀
continuous฀images฀at฀high฀speed.฀Sales฀to฀the฀end฀of฀
March฀2004฀were฀good.฀In฀March฀2004,฀we฀launched฀
the฀D70,฀an฀easy-to-use฀SLR-type฀digital฀camera฀
Although฀the฀global฀market฀for฀digital฀
cameras฀continued฀to฀expand,฀competition฀
intensifi฀ed฀further,฀most฀notably฀in฀the฀
compact฀camera฀segment.฀Price฀erosion฀
was฀a฀marked฀feature฀of฀the฀year.฀Net฀
sales฀rose฀4.7%฀year-on-year฀to฀¥284,713฀
million,฀but฀operating฀income฀dropped฀
9.1%฀to฀¥25,222฀million.
271,956
221,577
28 4,713
N E T ฀ S A L E S * ฀ ( M I L L I O N S ฀ O F ฀ Y EN )
20 0 4
20 03
20 02
*The฀above฀fi฀gures฀include฀intersegment฀sales.
O P E R A T I N G ฀ I N C O M E ฀ ( M I L L I O N S ฀ O F฀ Y E N )
Competition฀continues฀to฀intensify฀
in฀the฀digital฀camera฀market฀amid฀a฀
shift฀to฀models฀with฀higher฀megapixel฀
capabilities.฀Our฀mission฀at฀Nikon฀is฀to฀
provide฀customers฀with฀the฀high-quality฀
images฀and฀picture-taking฀enjoyment฀
associated฀with฀the฀Nikon฀brand.
25,222
20 0 4
20 03
20 02 16 ,13 4
27,745
10