Nikon Corp, Japan's No. 5 seller of digital cameras to consumers by shipments, said it wants to boost sales at its camera business by half within three years by introducing digital cameras capable of producing better images.
Tokyo-based Nikon expects about ¥400 billion (US$3.33 billion) in sales of imaging products, including digital cameras, film-based cameras and lens, in the year ending March 2006, Executive Officer Makoto Kimura said in an interview. Nikon expects the division's sales to total between ¥260 billion and ¥270 billion in the year ending this month.
Nikon, whose chipmaking equipment business is losing money, is boosting production of digital cameras as sales of the devices, which use semiconductors instead of film, surge. Makers of digital cameras, including Sony Corp, expect their earnings to improve as a result of the growing acceptance of the devices.
"Nikon expanded its market share by introducing expensive and high-end models," said Shin Horie, an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, who rates the company's shares "underperform."
"Leading camera lens technology is also a plus."Imaging products accounted for 60 percent of Nikon's total sales in the six months ended Sept. 30. Revenue from semiconductor equipment was a quarter of the company's entire sales.
Nikon expects its share of the digital camera market to rise to 11 percent or 12 percent on a volume basis in the year ending this month, up from 3.2 percent in 1998.
In monetary terms, "Nikon will probably grab a 17 or 18 percent share this business year, becoming the number three maker," Kimura said.
The company has more than half the market for single lens reflex digital cameras, whose industrywide sales Kimura expects to triple in three years.
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