Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 16

other
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
39,643
41, 875
48,176
*The฀above฀figures฀include฀intersegment฀sales.
Operating฀Results฀for฀the฀Year฀Ended฀March฀2004
Net฀sales฀declined฀5.3%฀year-on-year฀to฀¥39,643฀million,฀result-
ing฀in฀an฀operating฀loss฀of฀¥3,232฀million฀(compared฀with฀a฀loss฀
of฀¥1,260฀million฀in฀the฀previous฀year).
The฀Customized฀Products฀Business฀posted฀higher฀sales฀due฀to฀
special฀orders฀for฀aerospace-related฀products฀and฀other฀factors.
Sales฀of฀sport฀optics฀products฀increased฀in฀Japan฀as฀newly฀
introduced฀models฀of฀binoculars฀and฀fi฀eld฀scopes฀supplemented฀
solid฀sales฀of฀existing฀products.฀Lower฀sales฀in฀the฀United฀States,฀
however,฀caused฀overall฀sales฀in฀this฀sector฀to฀decline.
In฀surveying฀instruments,฀strong฀growth฀in฀China฀and฀other฀
overseas฀markets฀helped฀to฀offset฀sluggish฀sales฀in฀Japan.฀We฀
established฀Nikon-Trimble฀Co.,฀Ltd.,฀a฀Japan-based฀50:50฀joint฀
venture฀with฀Trimble฀Navigation฀Ltd.฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀one฀of฀
the฀world’s฀leading฀makers฀of฀surveying฀instruments.฀Supplying฀
a฀broad฀range฀of฀high-performance฀products฀for฀the฀surveying฀
industry,฀Nikon-Trimble฀aims฀to฀expand฀their฀presence฀in฀this฀sec-
tor.฀Operations฀commenced฀on฀July฀1,฀2003.
In฀ophthalmic฀products,฀sales฀of฀฀ophthalmic฀lenses฀increased฀
in฀overseas฀markets,฀while฀sales฀of฀frames฀and฀sunglasses฀de-
clined฀amid฀sluggish฀sales฀in฀Japan.
Business฀Strategy
Three฀new฀businesses฀are฀set฀to฀drive฀future฀growth฀in฀this฀
segment.
1.฀ Chemical฀mechanical฀polishing฀(CMP)฀systems:
We฀established฀a฀separate฀business฀unit฀in฀November฀2002฀
to฀guide฀the฀development฀of฀our฀business฀in฀CMP฀systems,฀
which฀are฀used฀to฀make฀LSI฀chip฀surfaces฀even.฀Although฀the฀
introduction฀to฀the฀industry฀of฀CMP฀systems฀for฀ultra฀low-k฀
materials฀was฀delayed,฀business฀negotiations฀for฀use฀of฀cop-
per฀interconnect฀of฀DRAM฀were฀successful.฀We฀expect฀to฀sell฀
10฀machines฀in฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2005.
2.฀ We฀established฀a฀business฀unit฀for฀glass-related฀operations฀in฀
October฀2003.฀Nikon฀is฀a฀specialist฀supplier฀of฀ultrahigh-qual-
ity฀glass฀materials฀such฀as฀silica฀glass.฀This฀unit฀is฀engaged฀in฀
expanding฀sales฀of฀glass฀materials.฀
3.฀ In฀June฀2003,฀we฀initiated฀a฀full-scale฀company-wide฀com-
mercial฀project฀to฀develop฀business฀related฀to฀optics฀engines.฀
As฀digital฀broadcasting฀rolls฀out,฀many฀consumers฀are฀
upgrading฀to฀digital฀televisions.฀HDTV-capable฀micro-display฀
(MD)฀projection฀TVs฀are฀expected฀to฀increase฀in฀popularity฀as฀
replacements฀for฀฀CRT-type฀PTVs,฀which฀have฀become฀popu-
lar฀in฀the฀United฀States.฀Optics฀engines฀are฀a฀critical฀compo-
nent฀of฀LCOS-type฀MD฀PTV,฀which฀produces฀extremely฀high-
quality฀images฀using฀highly฀refl฀ective฀liquid฀crystal฀on฀silicon฀
(LCOS).฀We฀began฀manufacturing฀and฀selling฀optics฀engines฀
based฀on฀Nikon’s฀wealth฀of฀expertise฀in฀optical฀technology฀
in฀the฀year฀ended฀March฀2003.฀The฀market฀for฀LCOS-type฀
MD฀PTVs฀is฀forecast฀to฀grow฀as฀digital฀HDTV฀broadcasting฀
becomes฀more฀widely฀available.฀Sales฀of฀optics฀engines฀are฀
set฀to฀rise฀sharply฀from฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2005฀up฀to฀
and฀including฀the฀year฀ending฀March฀2006.
N P S 3 3 0 1
CMP฀system฀capable฀of฀high-precision฀
polishing฀
Action฀Series
Binoculars฀made฀for฀the฀outdoors฀with฀a฀
wide฀range฀of฀uses,฀including฀bird-฀and฀
nature-watching
P R O G U E฀ N E X I A
World’s฀fi฀rst฀ophthalmic฀frames฀using฀
photocatalyst฀responsive฀to฀visible฀light
Optics฀Engine
Optics฀engines฀for฀LCOS-type
projection฀TVs.
(1, 26 0 )
20 0 4
20 03
20 02 1,577
(3, 232)
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 E N )
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