Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 13

Makoto฀Kimura
Managing฀Director,
Member฀of฀the฀Board฀&฀Senior฀Executive฀Offi฀cer,
President฀of฀Imaging฀Company
designed฀for฀amateur฀photography฀enthusiasts฀that฀
combines฀exceptional฀image฀quality฀with฀superior฀con-
tinuous฀shooting฀capability.฀This฀model฀was฀extremely฀
well฀received฀in฀Japan,฀where฀it฀was฀awarded฀the฀
Japan฀Camera฀Grand฀Prix฀2004฀award.฀In฀Europe,฀the฀
D70฀garnered฀the฀฀Best฀Consumer฀Digital฀SLR฀Camera฀
2004฀award฀from฀TIPA.฀Faced฀with฀demand฀that฀is฀
higher฀than฀we฀anticipated,฀we฀are฀now฀working฀to฀
increase฀production฀capacity฀for฀this฀model.
In฀the฀compact฀digital฀camera฀market,฀competition฀
has฀become฀extremely฀fi฀erce฀as฀many฀manufacturers฀
vie฀for฀the฀attention฀of฀consumers.฀Nikon’s฀brand฀in฀
this฀segment฀of฀the฀market฀is฀COOLPIX.฀In฀the฀year฀
ended฀March฀2004,฀we฀launched฀seven฀new฀models฀
under฀this฀brand:฀the฀5.1฀effective฀megapixel฀COOL-
PIX฀5400฀featuring฀a฀4x฀wide฀angle฀Zoom-Nikkor฀
lens;฀COOLPIX฀SQ฀of฀innovative฀design;฀three฀stylish฀
compact฀cameras,฀the฀COOLPIX฀3700,฀the฀COOLPIX฀
3200,฀and฀the฀COOLPIX฀2200;฀and฀the฀COOLPIX฀
8700,฀which฀has฀an฀8.0฀effective฀megapixel฀CCD฀and฀
a฀newly฀developed฀8x฀Zoom-ED฀Nikkor฀lens.฀We฀plan฀
to฀launch฀more฀models฀in฀the฀coming฀year฀to฀maintain฀
our฀competitive฀edge฀within฀this฀segment.
We฀also฀made฀further฀progress฀in฀reinforcing฀our฀
cost฀competitiveness฀by฀raising฀the฀proportion฀of฀key฀
components฀and฀fi฀nished฀products฀manufactured฀
in-house,฀and฀in฀building฀extra฀production฀capacity฀
to฀supply฀an฀expanding฀market.฀We฀have฀enhanced฀
our฀new฀production฀capacity฀outside฀Japan฀so฀that฀
we฀can฀lower฀production฀costs฀while฀also฀maintaining฀
stable฀supplies.฀We฀established฀Nikon฀Imaging฀(China)฀
Co.,฀Ltd.฀in฀Wuxi,฀Jiangsu฀Province,฀China฀as฀a฀manu-
facturing฀subsidiary฀for฀compact฀digital฀cameras,฀and฀
production฀has฀commenced.฀We฀have฀also฀extended฀
the฀fl฀oor฀area฀at฀this฀plant฀to฀raise฀capacity฀and฀enable฀
a฀greater฀degree฀of฀in-house฀production฀of฀compo-
nents.฀Annual฀output฀is฀scheduled฀to฀rise฀substantially฀
in฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2006.฀At฀Nikon฀(Thailand)฀
Co.,฀Ltd.,฀which฀manufactures฀the฀D70,฀we฀are฀invest-
ing฀to฀expand฀aspherical฀lens฀processing฀and฀in-house฀
production฀of฀high-value-added฀lens฀units฀for฀compact฀
digital฀cameras.
To฀cultivate฀our฀image-processing฀software฀devel-
opment฀capabilities,฀we฀have฀set฀up฀an฀initiative฀called฀
“PictureProject.”฀This฀is฀a฀communications฀channel฀
devoted฀to฀digital฀image-processing฀software฀that฀we฀
hope฀will฀evolve฀into฀a฀network฀that฀connects฀Nikon฀to฀
customers,฀while฀also฀allowing฀us฀to฀market฀software฀
that฀we฀have฀developed.฀This฀year฀we฀also฀announced฀
to฀launch฀COOLWALKER,฀a฀products฀that฀allows฀people฀
to฀share฀digital฀images฀that฀they฀have฀taken฀pretty฀eas-
ily.฀Equipped฀with฀a฀2.5-inch฀color฀TFT฀LCD฀and฀a฀30GB฀
hard฀disk฀drive,฀this฀is฀the฀modern฀digital฀equivalent฀of฀a฀
portable฀photograph฀album฀that฀can฀be฀used฀anytime,฀
anywhere.฀Unlike฀its฀analog฀predecessor,฀however,฀
COOLWALKER฀has฀the฀advantage฀that฀it฀can฀also฀be฀
used฀to฀share฀video฀clips฀as฀well฀as฀still฀images.
Elsewhere,฀the฀ongoing฀contraction฀of฀the฀
traditional฀fi฀lm฀camera฀market฀unexpectedly฀acceler-
ated฀during฀the฀year,฀with฀sales฀of฀both฀SLR-type฀and฀
compact฀cameras฀falling.฀Although฀this฀is฀a฀shrinking฀
market,฀many฀fans฀of฀fi฀lm฀photography฀and฀Nikon฀
fi฀lm฀cameras฀still฀remain.฀We฀continue฀to฀offer฀new฀
products฀with฀Nikon฀features฀to฀this฀market฀segment฀
so฀that฀they฀can฀enjoy฀traditional฀photography฀to฀get฀
the฀most฀out฀of฀their฀hobby.
While฀there฀are฀still฀many฀keen฀disciples฀of฀
traditional฀fi฀lm,฀which฀retains฀its฀unique฀appeal,฀many฀
have฀been฀converted฀to฀the฀relative฀fun฀and฀simplicity฀
of฀digital฀cameras.Digital฀pictures฀will฀allow฀users฀to฀
adjust฀color,฀3-D฀information฀and฀focus฀after฀shoot-
ing฀in฀the฀future.฀We฀are฀also฀looking฀at฀collaborative฀
ventures฀with฀various฀other฀companies,฀including฀
one฀in฀the฀United฀States.฀Nikon฀remains฀one฀of฀the฀
world’s฀most฀instantly฀recognized฀names฀associated฀
with฀taking฀images.฀We฀continue฀to฀take฀a฀leading฀role฀
to฀maintain฀a฀strong฀brand฀image฀amid฀the฀ongoing฀
digital฀revolution฀in฀photography.
D7 0
Digital฀SLR฀camera฀targeting฀a฀wide฀range฀
of฀users฀from฀beginners฀to฀photographic฀
enthusiasts
C O O L P I X฀ 8 7 0 0
Digital฀camera฀that฀features฀8.0฀effective฀
megapixels฀and฀an฀8x฀Zoom-Nikkor฀lens฀
C O O L P I X฀ 5 2 0 0
High-resolution,฀easy-to-use฀digital฀camera฀
with฀5.1฀effective฀megapixels฀and฀a฀
lightweight฀aluminum฀body
C O O L P I X฀ 4 10 0
Features฀an฀easy-to-grasp฀grip฀style฀design฀
for฀beginners,฀4.0฀effective฀megapixels฀and฀
a฀3x฀optical฀zoom฀lens
Nikon฀Imaging฀(China)฀Co.,฀Ltd.฀is฀manufacturing฀
compact฀digital฀cameras฀in฀Wuxi,฀China.
Our฀D70฀SLR-type฀digital฀camera฀received฀the฀Japan฀
Camera฀Grand฀Prix฀2004฀award.
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