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Victor Company of Japan, Limited 23
Bolstering Our Lineup of Digital Recordable Media
High quality recordable media is an important ingredient
for fully enjoying the exceptional quality offered by JVC
products. Under Leap Ahead 21, digital recordable media
lies at the core of the Media business’s path to growth.
Recordable media technologies are rapidly advancing, but
JVC has more to offer than sophisticated functions. We
will sharpen our competitive edge by providing distinct
media products that deliver sound and images that touch
the heart.
DVD Strengthens Its Foothold
In the year under review, sales of recordable tapes
declined due to a drastic drop in the retail price of digital
video camera tapes and the shrinking market for VHS
tapes. DVD-RW and other recordable DVD media, how-
ever, soared on the back of the growing popularity of DVD
recorders in Japan. As a result, overall sales of recordable
media remained stable from the previous fiscal year.
In prerecorded software, sales of DVDs were strong
overseas and outstripped the previous fiscal year’s levels
in Japan, encouraged by interest in Korean TV shows and
movies. However, sales of VHS tapes lost ground as a
result of video software’s move to the DVD format, and
sales of music CDs declined amid a slump in the Software
business. Consequently, overall sales of prerecorded soft-
ware dipped slightly.
Taking On Expanding Markets
JVC’s Media business owes its strength to the Company’s
ability to use proprietary, cutting-edge technologies to
develop trailblazing products. For instance, in April 2005,
JVC unveiled the world’s first single-sided, dual-layer
DVD-RW disc technology. This technology has achieved
JVC’s years of experience in disk
molding and recording layer for-
mation technologies are the
foundation for these high quality
DVD-RW disks that deliver reli-
able and stable recording per-
formance.
These high quality mini-DV tapes
with unique JVC technology
bring out the best performance in
any mini-DV camcorder.
large-capacity storage of 8.5GB and up to 11 hours of
video recording without turning over the disc. Moreover, in
December 2004, we announced our development of the
world’s first Blu-ray/DVD combo ROM disc technology,
which uses proprietary, high-performance reflective film to
enable storage of both high definition video and standard
definition video on a single disc.
The Japan Recording Media Industries Association pro-
jects that the market for recordable DVD media will rapidly
expand in 2005, with demand for rewritable DVD media
and recordable DVD media rising 65% and 84%, respec-
tively, from 2004.
The Media business will continue to make the most of its
technological prowess in growing markets, focusing on
enhancing productivity and offsetting the fall in retail prices
by expanding the network of retail outlets where its record-
able DVD media and digital video camera tapes are sold to
increase revenues. We will also continue to develop and
mass-produce groundbreaking media products while lever-
aging our partnership with the Software business.
Hiroshi Fujisawa
President, Media Company
DVD-RW Disks
Mini-DV Tapes