Konica Minolta pulls plug on camera & film business - Techwatch Support Forums: Digital & Satellite TV, FTA, Cable, Computers, Mobile Phones, Apple and General Tech Forums

SatelliteHelp · 19-01-06, 02:39 PM

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it would withdraw from the camera and color film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world.

As part of the surprise move, Konica Minolta said it would sell a portion of its digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera assets to Sony Corp. for an undisclosed sum and cease production of compact cameras by March.

The company said it would stop making photographic film and color paper by March 2007, pulling out of a market shrinking more than 20 percent a year due to the spread of digital cameras, which don't use film to store images.

The world's third-largest maker of camera film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film Co. had said in November that it would slash its loss-making camera and film operations, but not completely shut them down.

"I wanted to put a clear end to the matter," Konica Minolta President Fumio Iwai said at a press conference, where the company also announced that Iwai would be replaced by Vice President Yoshikatsu Ota on April 1.

Konica Minolta said in November it expected to post a group net loss of 47 billion yen ($407.9 million) in the year to March as it took a charge of 90 billion yen to rationalize production, write down assets and cut jobs in its camera and film division.

But the decision to completely pull the plug on the business caught analysts and archrival Fuji Photo off guard.

Konica Minolta, created in August 2003 through the merger of Konica Corp. and Minolta Co., has a long history in the camera and film markets, producing Japan's first photographic paper in 1903 and the country's first color film in 1940.

MuppetBoy · 25-01-06, 03:16 AM

Another nail in the coffin...

A sad day. :'(

19-01-06, 02:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
SatelliteHelp Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 199 Thanks: 0 Thanked 60 Times in 7 Posts	Konica Minolta pulls plug on camera & film business TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it would withdraw from the camera and color film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world. As part of the surprise move, Konica Minolta said it would sell a portion of its digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera assets to Sony Corp. for an undisclosed sum and cease production of compact cameras by March. The company said it would stop making photographic film and color paper by March 2007, pulling out of a market shrinking more than 20 percent a year due to the spread of digital cameras, which don't use film to store images. The world's third-largest maker of camera film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film Co. had said in November that it would slash its loss-making camera and film operations, but not completely shut them down. "I wanted to put a clear end to the matter," Konica Minolta President Fumio Iwai said at a press conference, where the company also announced that Iwai would be replaced by Vice President Yoshikatsu Ota on April 1. Konica Minolta said in November it expected to post a group net loss of 47 billion yen ($407.9 million) in the year to March as it took a charge of 90 billion yen to rationalize production, write down assets and cut jobs in its camera and film division. But the decision to completely pull the plug on the business caught analysts and archrival Fuji Photo off guard. Konica Minolta, created in August 2003 through the merger of Konica Corp. and Minolta Co., has a long history in the camera and film markets, producing Japan's first photographic paper in 1903 and the country's first color film in 1940.

25-01-06, 03:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
MuppetBoy Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 88 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Konica Minolta pulls plug on camera & film business Another nail in the coffin... A sad day. :'( __________________ Without TV, it's hard to tell when one day ends and the next begins...