Nikon 2003 Annual Report Download - page 16

123 4
1 NP S3 30 1
C M P system capable of high-precision polishing
2 8 32 H G D C F
High-grade binoculars deliver high-resolution
performance for a clear eld of view
3 NP L - 30 2 S ER I E S
Total Station featuring non-prism function
(NST-300N SERIES in Japan)
4 P R OG U E N E X I A
Ophthalmic frames using the world’s rst earpiece
tips made from shape-memory plastic
other
Operating฀Results฀
Net฀sales฀declined฀13.1%฀to฀¥41,875฀million,฀generating฀an฀operating฀loss฀of฀¥1,260฀million.฀Despite฀
efforts฀to฀develop฀new฀markets,฀the฀Customized฀Products฀Business฀suffered฀a฀sharp฀fall฀in฀sales฀as฀the฀
prolonged฀market฀downturn฀impacted฀demand฀for฀optical฀components฀for฀ber-optic฀communications฀
applications.฀Sales฀of฀customized฀equipment฀also฀declined฀signicantly.฀Sales฀of฀binoculars฀and฀telescopes฀
products฀rose฀as฀sales฀of฀new฀products,฀including฀updated฀ranges฀of฀high-grade฀binoculars฀HG฀series฀
and฀loupes฀supplemented฀solid฀sales฀of฀existing฀products.฀Demand฀for฀surveying฀instruments฀from฀the฀
construction฀and฀civil฀engineering฀sectors฀cooled฀amid฀reduced฀public-works฀spending฀in฀Japan,฀result-
ing฀in฀lower฀sales฀of฀these฀products.฀Sales฀of฀eyewear฀products฀also฀declined฀overall฀amid฀poor฀market฀
conditions.฀In฀ophthalmic฀lenses,฀sales฀of฀high-added-value฀items,฀such฀as฀progressive฀addition฀lenses,฀in-
creased,฀while฀sales฀of฀lenses฀with฀single฀vision฀lenses฀also฀held฀up฀well.฀This฀was฀offset,฀however,฀by฀price฀
erosion฀with฀ophthalmic฀frames฀and฀sunglasses,฀which฀dragged฀down฀total฀sales฀in฀the฀eyewear฀sector.
Business฀Strategy฀and฀Topics/Achievements
This฀segment฀consists฀of฀a฀number฀of฀different฀business฀units.฀Currently฀we฀are฀undertaking฀various฀
structural฀and฀other฀reforms฀to฀boost฀protability,฀with฀the฀aim฀of฀ensuring฀that฀each฀business฀unit฀can฀
generate฀steady฀earnings฀growth฀and฀contribute฀to฀improved฀consolidated฀protability฀overall.
In฀the฀surveying฀instruments฀eld,฀the฀year฀ended฀March฀2003฀marked฀the฀conclusion฀of฀an฀agree -
ment฀to฀establish฀a฀Japan-based฀50:50฀joint฀venture฀between฀Nikon฀and฀Trimble฀Navigation฀Ltd.,฀of฀the฀
United฀States,฀a฀leader฀in฀surveying฀instruments.฀Bringing฀together฀Nikon’s฀advanced฀optical฀technology,฀
sales฀network฀in฀Japan฀and฀the฀high-quality฀reputation฀of฀the฀Nikon฀brand฀with฀Trimble’s฀broad฀range฀of฀
GP S฀(Global฀Positioning฀System)฀and฀other฀instruments฀and฀its฀global฀sales฀network,฀the฀establishment฀of฀
this฀venture,฀called฀Nikon-Trimble฀Co.,฀Ltd.,฀promises฀to฀generate฀substantial฀mutual฀benets฀by฀enabling฀
both฀companies฀to฀expand฀their฀presence฀in฀the฀surveying฀instruments฀eld.฀The฀joint฀venture฀commenced฀
operations฀on฀July฀1,฀2003,฀in฀the฀process฀of฀transforming฀the฀Nikon฀Group฀surveying฀instrument฀develop -
ment,฀manufacturing฀and฀sales฀operations฀to฀Nikon฀Geotecs฀Co.,฀Ltd.
We฀made฀further฀progress฀during฀the฀year฀ended฀March฀2003฀in฀the฀development฀of฀Nikon’s฀chemical฀
mechanical฀polishing฀(CMP )฀system฀business฀with฀the฀creation฀in฀November฀2002฀of฀an฀internal฀division฀to฀
oversee฀business฀development฀in฀this฀area.฀Increasingly฀advanced฀semiconductor฀manufacturing฀processes฀
designed฀to฀cope฀with฀higher฀levels฀of฀large -scale฀integration฀(L S I )฀in฀chips฀and฀the฀introduction฀of฀new฀
materials฀are฀driving฀demand฀for฀methods฀of฀ensuring฀that฀the฀multiple฀layers฀of฀conductors฀and฀dielectric฀
layers฀packed฀on฀top฀of฀silicon฀wafers฀are฀uniform.฀CMP฀system฀meets฀this฀need฀by฀applying฀both฀chemi-
cal฀and฀physical฀processes฀to฀the฀surfaces฀of฀these฀layers฀to฀polish฀them฀and฀make฀them฀uniformly฀even.฀
At฀Nikon,฀we฀are฀applying฀our฀various฀technical฀expertise฀in฀optical฀lens฀polishing฀and฀optical฀measure-
ment,฀as฀well฀as฀other฀stepper-derived฀technology,฀to฀develop฀high-precision฀CMP฀systems.฀Business฀
development฀efforts฀are฀now฀at฀a฀relatively฀advanced฀stage.฀We฀anticipate฀that฀this฀business฀will฀make฀a฀
signicant฀contribution฀to฀earnings฀once฀it฀becomes฀established.
N E T ฀ S A L E S * ฀ ( M I L L I O N S ฀ O F ฀ Y EN )
200 3
200 2
2001
41,875
48,176
43, 610
*The฀above฀figures฀include฀intersegment฀sales.
O P E R A T I N G ฀ I N C O M E ( L O S S ) ฀ ( M I L L I O N S฀ O F ฀ Y EN )
1, 577
1,7 29
200 3
200 2
2001
(1, 26 0 )
1 4 1 5