Shibano of Citigroup Securities asked Fujifilm about production and received an interesting answer. In short, the Fujifilm X100VI is difficult to mass produce because the exterior production aspect of the camera is manual labor intensive. You can read the full interaction below:
Q: Finally, I would like to ask about Imaging. I believe that both instax and digital cameras are doing very well. Also, seeing how these are sold out in stores, and the response to the lack of availability and not taking back orders, it appears that this plateau condition will continue for a year. What is the reality of this situation? I think you are already at full capacity, but even so, do you think it will go up further in Q3 due to seasonality? Please tell us about these expectations.
As you said, the supply is not keeping up with the demand. The demand for digital cameras is quite strong, and our features and brand power are gaining ground. From the beginning, we planned to double the production of the previous model and put it on the market, but even so, production has not been able to catch up, and we are now trying hard to catch up.
The rate‐limiting factor is that the manufacturing of semiconductors, be they image sensors or processors, must be included in the semiconductor manufacturers. Another problem is the design of the top part of camera, although this is related to our excellent design. The X100VI, with its various dials and such, is so popular as its design is quite retro. Their production is done by cutting and other process, in order to create a classy design, which is close to handmade and difficult to mass‐produce.
We are taking various steps, such as accelerating the delivery date from the vendor, and will do our utmost to make it available to customers.
Our idea is to create brand power. Especially after the introduction of interchangeable lenses, sales will not continue without brand power. So we are experimenting with different sizes of CMOS, developing different functions and processors, and many other things. This will continue for all time. Companies are competing with each other for improved features and image quality. Recently, more and more movies are being taken with mirrorless cameras, and we believe that the market in this area will continue to expand due to competition.
Meanwhile, we have had problem in supplying film for instant photo systems, instax, but we will begin to increase production in early fall of this fiscal year. The plant will be at full capacity in the next fiscal year, FY2025, and will be able to produce 20% more film than the current capacity. We are taking measures to increase production after that.
In the case of instax, one of the main factors is that we have launched many different models of cameras in the world, both digital and analog. However, a more significant factor is the overwhelming increase in film consumption by the Link series printers.
One of the reasons for this is the improved quality of the photos from iPhones and other cell phones and when transferred to our Link smartphone printer for printing out, transfer times are also much shorter than in the past. In addition, it is said that the silver halide film‐based image quality expresses the depth of a photograph, and the ability to express the advanced image processing of a digital camera exactly as it is on a print is a major point.
We are working very hard to promote this in foreign countries, expressing it as “don’t just take, give,” which means “don’t just take, give to others and display, which is the establishment of a photographic culture.” The number of smart phone shots is probably about over 3 trillion shots right now, and depending on what percentage of that will be output, this business will be very different.
Also, we are now developing the use of QR codes, etc., and the use of QR codes for business purposes is also on the rise quite a bit right now.
There isstill much to sell in the world. The US is currently number one in the world, followed by Europe, China, Japan, and India, but there is still unlimited space to sell more. Therefore, we believe that this uptrend will continue for the foreseeable future.
