JAPAN DIGITAL CAMERA FIRMS SHOW MIXED PICTURE OF FY09 SHIPMENTS
SNE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- While overall worldwide shipments
by the top eight Japanese digital camera makers are forecast to
dip only mildly in fiscal 2009 by one per cent year-on-year to
95.27 million units, projections by individual companies show a
wide gap.
Sony Corp. (TSE:6758) is the most pessimistic of the bunch,
predicting a two million unit plunge to 20 million units in
fiscal 2009.
"Rather than lowering prices and increasing unit-term sales,
we aim to secure profits even if it means a smaller sales
volume," Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said.
Canon Inc. (TSE:7751), the world's top digital camera maker,
also expects digital camera shipments to decrease by 1.7
million units to 23.9 million units. The company estimates that
sales at its camera division will fall 18 per cent in the
current year through December 31.
By contrast, Casio Computer Co. (TSE:6952) and Panasonic
Corp. (TSE:6752) see their shipments rising despite the global
consumption slump.
Casio forecasts digital camera shipments to jump 23 per cent
to seven million units, while Panasonic anticipates 10 per cent
growth to 10 million units.
Casio's bullish outlook stems from the popularity of its new
products, such as a compact camera that supports continuous
shooting at 30 frames per second and a model that enables users
to combine still and video images.
Fujifilm Corp., which has been working to turn around its
digital camera business, expects its shipments to rise one per
cent to 8.3 million units. The Fujifilm Holdings Corp.
(TSE:4901) unit is counting on products based on a new
proprietary CCD (charge-coupled device), as well as a model
featuring a stereo-image function, to help it meet the
target.
Nikon Corp. (TSE:7731), the only one among the eight makers
to beat initial shipment projections for fiscal 2008, estimates
its shipments in fiscal 2009 will slip 3 per cent to 13.4
million units. Because the company is known for its
conservative estimates, however, many analysts expect Nikon to
upgrade the projections later.
Sales growth for compact digital cameras, which account for
90 per cent of the overall digital camera market, is expected
to slow in fiscal 2009. But with demand for digital single-lens
reflex cameras forecast to remain solid, Hoya Corp. (TSE:7741)
sees shipments of its Pentax brand digital SLR cameras soaring
48 per cent to 340,000 units. And Olympus Corp. (TSE:7733)
projects a 25 per cent jump in shipments of digital SLRs to
500,000 units.
(Nikkei)
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