JVC 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

5.Annual Report 2004
of advanced proprietary technologies in display and optical disk products, illustrated by our
D-ILA rear projection TVs and DVD recorders. These technologies will enable us to develop
our position centered on strategic products created using vertical technology integration.
By focusing on our five priority business areas, particularly display and optical disk prod-
ucts, we aim to change our image as a top company in audiovisual products, to become a
leading player in the high-definition field. This process will also increase our enterprise value.
To achieve this shift, we will focus on and aggressively invest in new technologies to
ensure they are even more innovative than their predecessors. This approach will not just be
confined to the Consumer Electronics and Professional Electronics segments, it will be
applied to all areas of JVC’s operations, including Components & Devices and Software &
Media. Going forward, we will expand the R&D budget and strengthen our team of soft-
ware designers to create a system that further enhances our technological capabilities.
Taking Advantage of Our Partnerships and Size
JVC is by no means a large company, and we see no real need to make it any bigger than it
has to be. That’s because our conventional approach of working with partners to amass
technologies, without substantively increasing our own assets, and rapidly launching prod-
ucts, still serves us well today.
In manufacturing, we are building symbiotic partnerships with material and component
suppliers around the world. By carefully selecting and assessing respective needs, we have
reduced our suppliers by nearly half in the past two to three years. Through a shared vision
for the future, and by listening carefully to our partners to accurately identify mutual needs,
we hope to create even closer and more responsive supply networks. For our part, we will
cultivate personnel capable of better identifying industry trends five years down the road.
These personnel will be our eyes on the future, helping us to procure the best materials and
components for next-generation products. Ultimately, this will help us to create an optimal
global procurement framework.
Retailers are also key JVC partners. In order to build stronger relationships with them, we
know we have to do more than simply sell them products. Working together with them, we
have to clearly communicate our corporate policy, and take on board those of our partners
too, to ensure we grow in line with the strategies we have set out. These partnerships are
underpinned by a certain amount of give and take: we want retailers to understand the
essence of our brand statement—The Perfect Experience—while we have to listen to the
advice of people closest to consumers. In this way, we will share feedback from customers
and use it to create “Only One” products. I am confident that this approach will yield the
best possible results for JVC and its retail partners, and raise customer satisfaction.
Partnerships are not our only strength. I also see JVC’s current size as something we
can really use to our advantage. Unshackled by organizational constraints, our engineers
are given free rein to combine diverse proprietary audio, TV and video technologies to
create new and exciting value-added products based on market needs. Our presence in
the software, hardware and media fields, despite our comparatively small size, is also a