Nikon has quietly released the financial results from the first-half of their current fiscal year. Surprisingly, the results are better than Nikon's last estimates (made in August), pretty much across the board at the gross level (net sales up, operating income up, income up, net income up). This is the sixth consecutive year Nikon has had a first half increase in net sales (income is down this year compared to last, though). Most of this was due to a substantial increase in imaging products. Consider the following table:
First half | Last est. First half this year | Actual first half this year | |
| Net Sales | 270b yen | 310b yen | 337b yen |
| Operating Income | 38.8b | 36b | 42b |
| DSLR units | 1.47m | 1.75m | 1.87m |
| Lenses | 2.2m | 2.4m | 2.63m |
| Compacts | 4.03m | 4.9m | 5.91m |
That's pretty much a knock-it-out-of-the-park result, especially considering how many of the other camera companies reports are going. Lest there be any doubt, during Nikon's second quarter they sold more DSLRs, more lenses, and more compacts than they have in any previous quarter. One very interesting aspect--and note my comments in the article just above this one--is that the US moved from being 33% of the imaging product shipment value to being 37%, mostly at the expense of Europe.
Of course, Nikon's second half forecasts now reflect the poor economy worldwide and the new yen/dollar and yen/euro relationships. The Imaging Division has pretty much maintained its estimate on sales, but has significantly dropped (by nearly 25%) its estimate of income. This is despite increases in expectations of unit volume. Nikon now expects to sell 3.5m DSLRs in the year, 4.9m lenses, and 10m compacts. Interestingly, they've projected their market shares for the year, too: 37% of DSLR market, 31% of the lens market, and 8.7% of the compact market. But those increased unit volumes coupled with decreased operating income mean one thing: lower sales price per unit. There's a lot of price pressure, in other words. The regional forecasts also point to more US sales (35%) than any other region (well, okay, Japan+Asia also equals 35%).
One particularly revealing statement: Nikon's business execution "will be executed assuming that it will take [a] long time before the recovery." Nikon expects the conditions to be challenging for quite some time going forward. That said, their R&D commitment is once again increased.