Yamaha 2006 Annual Report Download - page 34

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34
Technological expertise underpins the Yamaha Group’s broad base of
operations. Yamaha invests substantially in research and development (R&D)
activities that support its progress in advanced technology. Securing,
protecting, and utilizing related intellectual property is another prime aim at
Yamaha to ensure that the Company retains its competitive technical edge.
Yamaha leverages the core technological
expertise that it has acquired over many years
in sound and music to increase the value of the
Yamaha brand and to stimulate new demand
by developing innovative, high-quality products
and services. The Company has cultivated an
excellent global reputation for original design.
This attracts customers worldwide while
boosting the competitiveness of the product
range and raising the Yamaha brand profile.
Core technical expertise and innovative
product design constitute important intellectual
property for Yamaha.
The next stage in the Yamaha brand
evolution is to produce sound-related
technologies to support lifestyles enhanced
by network-based sound. It also involves
developing materials and devices connected
with human senses and emotions. Yamaha
is focused on generating new business
opportunities using its expertise in sound,
including the sounds of human voices and
environments. The Company is working, for
instance, on blending acoustic, digital signal
processing, and network technologies to
enable sound to become the basis for
important aspects of home life, such as
conveying information or security. Yamaha
also is looking at other potential business in
light of the rapid aging of Japanese society.
The Company has established a studio in
Tokyo to develop original systems that
emphasize the positive social role of music
in health maintenance.
To further its use of core technologies to
support future business, Yamaha invests in
R&D and Intellectual Property
employee training to ensure that core skills are
passed on and nurtured within its workforce.
Other key aspects of R&D at Yamaha include
programs to maintain and upgrade
technologies for product development and
manufacturing. These efforts strengthen the
Yamaha brand and boost the value of the
Company’s intellectual property and other
intangible assets.
R&D organization
R&D at Yamaha comprises three elements. First,
technical divisions attached to each business
segment work on product development.
Design Studio London opened in December 2005
Design Studio London stimulates collaboration between personnel from different
cultures in Hamamatsu, Tokyo and London with an eye on advanced product
design for both the near future and several years down the line.
R&D contribution to brand and
technology developments