(A Konica Minolta employee shows off one of the company's digital cameras. The Japanese firm, one of the world's leading photographic equipment makers, said it would stop making all cameras because the market had become too competitive. Photo: AFP/File)Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it would withdraw from the camera and photo business and transfer a portion of its digital single lens reflex camera assets to Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).
Konica Minolta plans to withdraw from the camera business as of the end of March this year, while ceasing film and color paper production by March 2007.
Konica Minolta is the world's third-largest maker of photographic film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film Co. and a relatively small player in the digital camera market.
The company said in November it expected to post a group net loss of 47 billion yen ($407.9 million) in the business year to March, reflecting 90 billion yen in restructuring charges to rationalize production sites, write down assets and cut jobs.
Iwai said in November that the restructuring would accelerate a shift of resources to more promising areas such as color office copiers and liquid crystal display materials, and away from the deteriorating market for analog film.
Sony and Konica Minolta said in July they would jointly develop digital SLR cameras, marking the Sony's entry into the fastest-growing segment of the camera market.
The Tokyo-based company also said Vice President Yoshikatsu Ota would take the helm on April 1, replacing current President Fumio Iwai, who is set to become chairman.
Prior to the announcement, shares in Konica Minolta closed up 3.1 percent at 1,278 yen, while Sony rose 0.8 percent to 4,900 yen. The Nikkei average was up 2.3 percent.
(Source: Reuters)
