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Hitachi, Ltd. Annual Report 2007 25
Digital Media
Sales rose year on year despite a drop in
projection TVs in North America as demand
slid. The higher sales were the result of
strong growth in plasma and LCD TVs and
DVD camcorders.
The sector reported a larger loss than
the previous fiscal year, reflecting lower
sales prices for flat-panel TVs, optical disk
drives, DVD recorders and certain other
products, as well as substantial investments
for marketing in the flat-panel TV business.
Comprehensive Air
Conditioning and
Home Appliances
Sales rose year on year. Although sales of
room air conditioners fell in Japan, the
sector recorded strong sales of air condi-
tioning equipment, refrigerators and
washer-dryers. Segment revenues rose 15%, to ¥1,506.0 billion
(U.S.$12,763 million), mainly due to higher sales of flat-panel
TVs. The segment, however, posted an operating loss of
¥58.4 billion (U.S.$495 million), ¥22.7 billion more than the
previous fiscal year. This loss resulted from the impact of
lower prices for flat-panel TVs, as well as lower sales of room
air conditioners in Japan.
Digital Media & Consumer
Products
The sector recorded a drop in earnings,
as lower sales of room air conditioners and
the impact of soaring raw material costs
outweighed a stronger performance in refrig-
erators and washer-dryers thanks to the
contribution of high-end models.
In April 2006, Hitachi Air Conditioning
Systems Co., Ltd. (Power & Industrial
Systems segment) and Hitachi Home &
Life Solutions, Inc. (Digital Media &
Consumer Products segment) were
merged to form Hitachi Appliances, Inc.
Plasma TV,
DVD camcorder
Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.
Sales declined year on year. While Hitachi
Maxell recorded buoyant sales of lithium-
ion rechargeable batteries for mobile
phones, micro batteries and optical com-
ponents, lower sales of computer tapes
due to falling prices and of audio tapes
and video tapes in a shrinking market
brought down overall sales.
However, earnings rose on strong
earnings from lithium-ion rechargeable
batteries and micro batteries as well as the
benefits of rigorous cost cutting.
Hitachi Maxell’s prismatic
lithium ion rechargeable
batteries featuring thin type
and high capacity
High capacity Blu-ray Disc for
HD (High Definition) content
Room air conditioner,
washing machine, refrigerator,
vacuum cleaner