Olympus 2004 Annual Report Download - page 17

Imaging
Systems
G ro up Sales
(Millio ns of yen)
214,999
244,814
296,730
49,736
45,685
4 7 ,7 9 4
165,263
199,129
248,936
0 2 0 3 0 4
O verseas sales
Domestic sales
O LYMPUS 2 0 0 4 1 5
μ[mju:] 4 1 0 DIGITAL
O lympus adds its 4 -
megapixel μ[mju:]
4 10 DIGITAL (Stylus
4 10 DIGITAL in the
U.S.) to the world’s
first all-weather metal-
bo died digital camera
series.
DIG ITAL STEREO
RECO RDER W ITH
M USIC PLAYER DM -20
The DM series’ prize
pro d uct—DM-2 0 . DM-
2 0 features 4 4 hours
and 4 5 minutes o f lo ng
DSS fo rmat reco rding,
high quality W MA for-
mat stereo rec o rding,
and a n MP3 / W MA fo r-
mat music player.
Pro duct prices fell, however, as a result o f heightened co mpeti-
tio n in Japan and o verseas, and O lympus was unable to increase
sales enoug h to keep pace with market expansion. O ur share o f
the g lo bal market edg ed do wn a little to 1 5 % co mpared with the
previous fiscal year.
The digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera market, which main-
ly co mprises users not satisfied with the performance and function
o f conventional digital cameras, has co nsiderable gro wth po ten-
tial. Launched in O cto ber 2003, the digital SLR E-1 (available by
the same name in the U.S. and Euro pe) was praised by pro fes-
sio nal cameramen for its Fo ur Thirds System, which o ffers high-
end digital reso lutio n.
Film Cameras
>Sales o f film cameras to taled ¥2 9 ,1 1 4 millio n (US$ 2 6 5 million),
a decline o f 4 6 .0 % fro m the previous fiscal year.
The market fo r film cameras has steadily declined in scale due
to the tremendous gro wth in the digital camera market. O lympus
has been wo rking to minimiz e the adverse impact on the smaller
market by increasing its market share in co untries aro und the
wo rld, such as thro ugh the do mestic release o f the μ[mju:]-III
1 5 0 (Stylus 1 5 0 in the U.S. and μ[mju:]-III 1 5 0 in Euro pe) with
a newly develo ped ”beautiful skin mo de“ that enhances skin
to ne. Despite this new camera g aining po pularity among wo men,
it failed to o ffset the shrinking market scale in Japan and o ver-
seas, resulting in an overall decrease in sales.
Voice Recorders
>Sales o f vo ice recorders grew 15.0% to ¥1 3 ,3 5 3 million (US$ 1 2 1
million).
The market fo r IC reco rders is expanding due to impro vements in
po rtability, lo nger recording times, higher audio quality, and the
co nvenient ability to transfer audio data to PCs. Sales of IC
recorders increased, reflecting po pular demand for the DM
(available by the same name in the U.S. and Euro pe) series
released in March 2 0 0 3 for its stereo recording and high-quality
audio capabilities. O lympus also bro adened its pro duct lineup
o verseas, mainly in the United States, and sales expanded with
market support.
Imaging Systems Group Split-O ff
>O n O ctober 1 , 2 0 0 4 , O lympus plans to split o ff the Imaging
Systems G ro up into O lympus Imaging Corp. and transfer all relat-
ed o peratio ns to the new co mpany. As a who lly o wned sub-
sidiary of the Company, O lympus Imaging Co rp. will take charg e
o f the manufacturing and sales o f digital cameras, film cameras,
and voice reco rders. Senior Executive Manag ing O fficer Hiro shi
Komiya, the current Imaging Systems G ro up President, is to
become president o f the new co mpany.
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