Nikon 2014 Annual Report Download - page 25

What are your thoughts on the fi scal year
ended March 2014?
We focused on three areas in the fi scal year ended in March
2014. The fi rst was further enhancing high defi nition in our
FPD lithography systems for small and medium-sized panels.
With steadily increasing demand for FPD lithography systems
for small and medium-sized panels, we sold seven more systems
than in the previous year, and as customers called for additional
advances in high defi nition, we applied ourselves to developing
equipment to meet their needs. The second area was making
our FPD lithography systems for 8th-generation large glass plates
more competitive. This system is involved stiff competition, so to
establish clear technical superiority we brought in technology
we had cultivated in our systems for 10th-generation large glass
plates and systems for 6th-generation high-defi nition panels to
realize marked advances in tact time,* overlay accuracy, and
resolution for our FPD lithography systems for 8th-generation
glass plates. The third area was to reduce costs in our business
processes. We thoroughly reduced costs and shortened the lead
time from development to sales and the system’s installation.
These efforts unequivocally bore fruit for us.
* This is the time needed to process one glass plate.
What will be the thrust of the strategy
in the FPD Lithography Business Unit
going forward?
Investment in the 6th-generation glass plates has run its
course, and demand for this equipment is declining. Demand
for 8th-generation glass plates for large-screen televisions is
likewise waning. Reasons behind this include a continuing drop
in the price of FPDs throughout the world and hesitancy among
panel manufacturers to make additional investments. The FPD
lithography systems market as a whole is expected to be fl at for
some time.
Even in such a challenging environment, Nikon could record
solid growth through the adoption of three steps. The fi rst and
most important step is the competitive potential of the products.
Our basic direction must lean more toward making the technol-
ogy outstanding than lowering prices, so we will enhance
performance and establish ourselves as the top manufacturer
in high-defi nition equipment. The second step is deepening
relationships with our customers. While we, of course, duly
inform potential customers about the fi rst-rate performance of
our FPD lithography systems, we continuously cull information
directly from our existing customers, respond quickly to their
most demanding concerns, and promptly incorporate customer
feedback into our development and manufacturing. The third
step is setting up a fl exible manufacturing base. The idea is not
to undertake everything in-house, but rather to create a system
to link us with the appropriate external resources to enable us
to respond promptly to sharp changes in demand.
What do you envision in the medium-to-long
term for the FPD Lithography Business Unit?
We have made it our goal to be an operation that supports the
advances of the display industry. To achieve this goal means
becoming a catalyst to activate the display market, foreseeing
future needs, and launching the right products. Needs, however,
are quite varied, so we receive various types of requests from
our customers. We would have diffi culty tending to all of our
customers’ requests with our fi nite resources, so someone must
correctly decide the requests to act on, which I see as my
responsibility. Investing, likewise, requires diffi cult choices
about where to expect sure profi tability and how to effi ciently
allocate funds.
We will also be placing emphasis on the business after
sales. Buying the latest equipment is an easy way to secure
high performance, but we realize that not every customer can
afford to simply install the newest equipment in a new plant.
This problem has prompted us to refl ect on a new business
opportunity. The latest equipment is not really necessary, for
example, to expose the displays of cheap smartphones that
have become so popular. Often, this can be done by updating
older equipment. Since this type of demand has begun to
appear, we are seeking business from equipment that has been
previously at customers’ sites.
We are also venturing into fi elds outside of FPD lithography
systems to stimulate the display industry. By applying Nikon’s
existing technology and dovetailing it with great technologies
of other fi rms, the possibilities for creating new forms of value
seem limitless.
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NIKON REPORT 2014