Pentax 2009 Annual Report Download - page 10

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Question
What does Hoya need in order to achieve further growth?
Answer
Up to now, Hoya has emphasized investments in the field of Information Technology. Going forward, I would like
to accelerate investments in human resources and facilities for the broad field of healthcare, including eyeglass
and contact lenses, intraocular lenses, and the medical endoscope and new ceramics (bone prostheses) busi-
nesses that Pentax has brought to the table, and make that the cornerstone of the next stage of growth.
The slowdown in sales in the Information Technology segment during the fiscal year under review is not a
sign that Hoya has lost its technological or competitive edge; it was due to stagnation in the global economy
and the sudden slowdown of the IT industry as a whole. Still, even should demand recover at some point, there
will be structural changes to the market environment, and our analysis leads us to believe that it will be very
difficult to return to the type of growth we have enjoyed in the past.
Hoya strives toward speedy and flexible portfolio management. With Information Technology making a
structural shift from growth business to mature business, we will maintain this as a stable source of income and
position health care related businesses as our growth segment—a balanced strategy for growth.
Question
What are the possibilities for the health care related businesses, and what strategies will you use to
pursue growth?
Answer
Consider that society is aging, both in Japan and in other countries around the world, and interest in health care is
growing. At the same time, there is stable demand from emerging economies as they speed up the creation of
their social infrastructure. For all these reasons and other, the field of health care can guarantee long-term growth.
For example, in the Vision Care segment, over many years of activity Hoya has established a firm business
base as the No. 2 eyeglass lens manufacturer in the global market. But our market share has plateaued at a little
over 10%, and there is plenty of room left for growth. In eyeglass lenses, market conditions have coupled with
increasing commoditization due to the rise of low-price lenses. We aim to expand the business in this area by
shifting gears to cover the entire market, from high-end to low-end. Likewise, with the EyeCity contact lens
business, we are not stopping at being Japan’s largest chain of contact lens retail stores. Instead, we are
expanding our sales activities to the Internet and other channels, and making a full-fledged move into the
Chinese market, to further expand and deepen our market.
Finally in intraocular lenses, endoscopes, and new ceramics, we have earned high evaluations from users for
the outstanding characteristics of our products, which bring together cutting-edge technologies in each field.
These markets have clear targets, so we will aggressively implement strategic marketing activities to raise our
presence in all the major sales countries.
INTERVIEW WITH COO
8HOYA Annual Report 2009