Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 14
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instruments
O P E R A T I N G I N C O M E ( M I L L I O N S O F Y E N )
49,872
46,6 41
N E T S A L E S * ( M I L L I O N S O F Y EN )
20 0 4
20 03
20 02
47,992
*Theabovefiguresincludeintersegmentsales.
AlthoughnetsalesfortheyearendedMarch2004
dippedslightlyrelativetothepreviousyear,we
generatedsignificantlyhigheroperatingincome.
Consideringtheweaknessofmarketsforbiological
microscopesinEuropeandtheU.S.,whereNikonhas
astrongposition,Ibelievetheseresultswerecredit-
able.Still,wecannotbesatisfiedyet.HereIoutlinethe
challengeswemustundertaketoachieveourgoals.
Themostimportantissuewefaceremainsto
boostprofitability.Todothis,wemustfirstexpand
levelsofsalestothepointwherewecanachievethe
reductionsinmanufacturingcoststhatwillresult
inhigherprofits.However,Idonotbelievewecan
achievethisgoalbytryingtograbincreasedmarket
share.Instead,weneedtofocusondevelopingprod-
uctsthatarehighlyattractivetocustomers,andthen
sellingtheseatcompetitiveprices.Inthiscontext,“at-
tractiveness”meanscreatingproductscustomerswill
wanttousebecausetheyfulfillrequirementsexactly.
Thesubstantialdegreeofvalue-addedintheprocess
ofachievingthisfeatwillmakeourproductscompeti-
tive,andtherebyraisesalesandprofits.Ibelievethisis
thepathwemusttaketowardgrowth.
Forinstance,inthebiologicalmicroscopesfieldwe
areworkingtoassesswhatsortofadvancedtechnol-
ogythemarketwantsbycreatingpartnershipswith
researchersatleadingWesternbioresearchinstitutions.
WehavealsodispatchedourpersonneltoourU.S.
basetoincorporatefeedbackfromcustomersintoour
technicaldevelopmentprogramforbiologicalmicro-
Althoughsalesofmeasuringinstruments
rosecomparedwiththepreviousyear,the
transferofoverseassalesoperationsfor
surveyinginstrumentstoNikon-Trimble
Co.,Ltd.inevitablyhadaslightlynegative
impactonsales.Wepostedoperatingin-
comeof¥2,685million(up45.8%year-on-
year)onnetsalesof¥47,992million(down
3.8%year-on-year).
Ourtwokeygrowththemesarelife
sciencesanddigitalization.Ourgoalis
totransformtheInstrumentsCompany
intoadevelopment-orientedenterprise
dedicatedtothelaunchofproductsthat
matchcustomerrequirementsprecisely.
468
1, 8 42
2,685
20 0 4
20 03
20 02
12