Nikon 2015 Annual Report Download - page 12

10 NIKON REPORT 2015
Business Review for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015
Semiconductor Lithography Business
Summary for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015
• Aimed to improve performance and expand
sales of systems focusing on ArF immersion
scanners, but number of units sold decreased
due to the impact of changes to customers’
capital investment plans
• Recorded impairment loss on xed assets of
approximately ¥15.2 billion
Market Environment
Capital investment was rm in the semiconduc-
tor-related eld. This trend is expected to con-
tinue for the time being, and in addition to
making improvements to system performance,
we aimed to increase our market share by
enhancing the sales structure and services.
Initiatives and Achievements
Working to improve performance and expand
sales of systems, focusing on ArF immersion
scanners, we made our rst shipment of the new
NSR-S630D scanner that offers extremely high
overlay accuracy and improved productivity.
Beset by such factors as changes to customers’
capital investment plans, fewer than the expected
number of overall units were sold, but the NSR-
S630D has been well received by customers.
We are further enhancing the support we
provide to customers after system delivery and
shortening the lead times needed to build mass
production systems at customer sites by estab-
lishing a new department.
Summary for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015
• In line with a shrinking market, the number
of units sold decreased signicantly
• Maintained high share of the lithography system
market for small and medium-sized high- denition
panels as well as OLED panels
Market Environment
Although recovery was evident in capital invest-
ment for large-sized panels, our performance was
weakened as a result of a settling down of capital
investment for small and medium-sized panels. It
is expected that capital investment for small and
medium-sized panels will recover rapidly, while
capital investment for large-sized panels will
remain stable.
Initiatives and Achievements
Focusing on sales of such systems as the
FX-67S that are ideal for the production of small
and medium-sized high-denition panels for
smartphones and tablet computers, we were
affected by the settling down of capital invest-
ment, resulting in sluggish sales compared with
the previous scal year. In systems for large-
sized panels, sales of the new FX-86S2 and
FX-86SH2 sold steadily due to a recovery in
customers’ capital investment.
Since sales volumes of FPD lithography
systems tend to be affected by market conditions,
we suffered a signicant drop in the number of
units sold but maintained our high share of
the market.
Summary for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015
• Impacted by delayed recoveries in European
and Chinese markets, and suffered decreases in
revenue and prot
• Achieved ratio of operating income to net sales
above that of previous year by cost reductions,
such as in advertising expenses
Market Environment
The market for digital cameras–interchangeable
lens type was sluggish mainly in Europe and
China, and the compact digital camera market
continued to shrink.
Despite a delayed recovery in the European
and Chinese markets, the contraction of the
market for digital single lens reex (SLR) cam-
eras lessened from the previous year.
Initiatives and Achievements
Among digital cameras–interchangeable lens type
that were well received during the year were the
D750 and D810 digital SLR cameras, with full-
scale specications comparable with those of
professional models; the mid-class D7100 and
D7200; and the entry-class D3300 and D5500.
As a result, market shares increased signi-
cantly in the United States and Russia.
In compact digital cameras, sales were
strong for products including the COOLPIX P600
and COOLPIX S9700.
The cumulative production of interchange-
able lenses reached 95 million units in July 2015.
FPD Lithography Business Imaging Products Business
2013 2014 2015
0
15
30
45
60
4040
32
Semiconductor Lithography Systems,
Unit Sales by Technology
(Including refurbished equipment)
(Years ended March 31)
Units n ArF immersion n ArF n KrF n i-line
2013 2014 2015
0
15
30
45
60
43
56
34
FPD Lithography Systems,
Unit Sales by Generation
(Years ended March 31)
Units
n 7G and above n 5G / 6G n 4G
6,980
17,140
5,750
11,160
4,610
7,690
2013 2014 2015
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
Unit Sales of Digital Cameras
(Years ended March 31)
Thousands of units
n Digital cameras–interchangeable lens type
n Compact digital cameras