Nikon 1999 Annual Report Download - page 7

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05
in-house. With growth in the camera market predomi-
nantly in the digital camera segment, the cost of
electronic parts presently makes up an increasingly
large proportion of the whole. Outsourcing the
production of these critical elements tends to limit the
savings that can be made in the cost of sales. Nikon is
therefore developing its own internal electronics
manufacturing expertise, and, on the software side, is
making moves to boost its large-scale integration
(LSI) systems design capabilities within the Nikon
Group. At the center of these efforts, Sendai Nikon
Corporation is developing printed circuit board (PCB)
manufacturing know-how.
OPHTHALMIC PRODUCTS
In ophthalmic lenses, the Company launched Nikon
Soltes FP-III progressive lenses for correcting near-
sightedness. Together with an increase in the number
of foreign sales bases, this helped increase sales of
ophthalmic lenses in overseas markets. However, a
fall in domestic demand outweighed these advances.
Sales of ophthalmic and ophthalmologic equipment
were higher than in the previous year, mainly due to
the successful launch in European and Asian markets
of the Speedy-1 auto-refract meter, whose simple
operation permits fast, highly accurate readings to be
made. In binoculars, the Action series and Ribino
(DX) series both sold well in the United States, and
also benefited from the successful introduction of the
Naturescope Farbel Mini (Naturescope Mini), a hand-
held outdoor model.
OUTLOOK
During the up-
coming fiscal
year, Nikon’s
domes-tic joint
venture with the
French firm
Essilor should help raise profits in the ophthalmic
lens business. In cameras, the popularity of the
recently launched COOLPIX950 model should
enhance Nikon's growing presence in the digital cam-
era market, as will the much-awaited professional-use
Nikon D1, due to be launched in autumn 1999, which
will combine all the benefits of a high-resolution digi-
tal camera with interchangeable conventional SLR
lenses. Strong growth is anticipated on both sales and
profit fronts.
Note: Products in parentheses refer to brand names in overseas markets.
COOLPIX950
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