Konica Minolta, Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshimitsu Taiko; hereinafter referred to as “Konica Minolta”) is an 80% shareholder of two Chinese manufacturing subsidiaries in the optical components business, which is the company's origin. The company has signed an agreement to transfer the information to Guangzhou Luxvisions Innovation Technology Limited (head office: Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China, legal representative: Laixi Wang, hereinafter referred to as “Luxvisions”). The transferred manufacturing company will have development and sales functions. Through this strategic business alliance, Konica Minolta will aim to optimize its divisional structure.*1 Business development in the growing mobility field. At the same time, by feeding back information obtained from Lux Visions' globally expanding customer contact points to Konica Minolta's material and processing technology development, we will provide new value in line with the evolution and diversity of our customers. This will enable Konica Minolta to grow its enterprise optical components.*2 We will strengthen our business in the industry field and promote a medium-term management plan aimed at transforming it into a highly profitable business.
*1: An assembled product that combines multiple parts, mainly using assembly technology.
*2: Ultra-high precision optical components that combine core technologies of materials and microfabrication.
Purpose of partnership
- Transform Konica Minolta's optical components business into a sustainable and highly profitable business. This is also part of the company's medium-term business plan to accelerate expansion in industrial fields such as mobility and testing.
- Optimized optical design system that accelerates growth of corporate optical unit business in the mobility field by combining LuxVision's global wide customer contact points centered on the mobility field and manufacturing capabilities based on thorough automation and modularization technology with Konica. Minolta's core technologies include power, advanced production technology, and unit assembly technology.
- The information obtained from Lux Visions' wide range of customer contact points is fed back to Konica Minolta's material and processing technology development, and by providing key components for industrial fields such as mobility and inspection, we will create new products that respond to the evolution and diversity of our customers. Through initiatives aimed at expanding the enterprise domain, including mobility and related infrastructure that provide value,
Strategic partnership system
OC: Optical Components Division
ODC: Konica Minolta Opto (Dalian) Co., Ltd.
OMS: Konica Minolta Optical Products (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Konica Minolta will transfer 80% of the shares of its two manufacturing subsidiaries in China to Lux Visions, and the two companies will become subsidiaries of Lux Visions.
Appendix: History and strengths of Konica Minolta's optical business
Before the business integration with Konica Minolta in 2003
- Konica, one of the founding companies that makes up the current Konica Minolta, was founded 150 years ago, and Minolta has a long history of 95 years. Both companies were founded in the photography-related business. Konica lenses were known for Hexar and Hexanon, and Minolta lenses were known for Rokkor. Many photography enthusiasts loved these lenses.
Konica Minolta's optical business
- In 2006, Konica Minolta announced that it would end its photographic film and camera business. Although production and sales under their own brands have ceased, the optical technology that was the origin of both companies has evolved further as one of the four core technologies of Konica Minolta Opto (then an operating company), and at the same time has expanded to other businesses of the Konica Minolta Group. We have supported elemental technology.
- The overwhelming market share of optical disc pickup lenses, born from Konica's innovative technology in the 1980s, has brought high profitability, driving Konica Minolta Group's profits in the 2000s, and it still maintains a high market share today.
- In our lens unit business, we are expanding from consumer applications such as compact cameras and mobile phones to professional fields such as high-quality, high-value-added digital cinema projectors and interchangeable lenses, and our advanced technology has been praised. It has been. Technical capabilities.
- In particular, sales of high-brightness digital cinema lens units have expanded in response to the trend toward 3D movie theaters, maintaining a high market share and earning stable profits.
- With this, we will utilize the advanced optical design technology and manufacturing technology we have cultivated through the production of parts and units that we have cultivated since our founding. Through this strategic business alliance, our company will provide key components to industrial fields such as mobility and inspection. We will continue to provide new value in response to the evolution and diversity of our customers.
Aspherical plastic lens registered as an important science and technology historical material at the National Museum of Nature and Science (September 13, 2021)
The world's first ultra-high-precision aspherical plastic lens for CD drives was commercialized in 1984 by Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Konica Minolta, using cutting-edge optical technology. and nano-processing technology. With a high shape accuracy of 0.1μm or less and unparalleled aspherical surfaces on both sides, this is a revolutionary product that achieves the performance required of a pickup lens for CD players in a single lens. This success accelerated the development of pickup lenses for various optical discs, including DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.TM It greatly contributed to the creation and growth of the optical disc industry. In recognition of this historical importance, aspherical plastic lenses have been registered as important historical materials.
https://www.konicaminolta.com/global-ja/newsroom/topics/2021/0922-01-01.html
Blu-ray DiscTM is a trademark of the Blu-ray Disc Association.
