Konica Minolta hoists the white flag

Damian Koh | Jan 19, 2006

As if in a race to see who can outdo the other in closing down their business, Konica Minolta today announced its withdrawal plans for its camera and photofinishing business. Its announcement makes it the second to exit the market, following HP's similar, if less drastic, departure from the Asian digicam market some five months back.

Konica Minolta's exit comes just a week after Nikon revealed plans to strengthen its digital lineup, and a month before the big annual Photo Marketing Association show in February.

Konica Minolta had earlier made known its intention to scale down the consumer business in July 2005. An agreement was then reached between the company and Sony Corp to transfer a portion of its camera business assets to the latter. Sony also announced it would develop digital SLRs compatible with Dynax lens mount systems, so current users will still be able to use them on Sony's dSLRs.

Amid escalating losses, Konica Minolta has finally decided to throw in the towel for its camera and photo business in a breaking announcement today. As part of its restructuring plan, the company will cut 3,700 jobs from its original headcount of 33,000 worldwide. This whole process will be completed by September 30, 2007.

Closer to home, this decision is expected to affect approximately a dozen employees in Singapore, with the numbers hitting a higher note in Malaysia and Thailand.

So does this mean the end of the Group's consumer business? Yes. The company will from here focus its resources on several fields including the optic, display, medical imaging, and sensing industries.

From April 1 onwards, Sony will implement service operations for Konica Minolta cameras and its related products including lenses and accessories.

Konica Minolta throws in the towel.