New book from FUJIFILM chairman & CEO Shigetaka Komori explains the company’s dramatic transformation
Valhalla, N.Y., June 17, 2015 – In Innovating Out of Crisis, How Fujifilm Survived (and Thrived) As Its Core Business Was Vanishing, published by Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, California, Shigetaka Komori, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation Chairman and CEO, recounts how he was inspired to lead Fujifilm’s journey from the brink of extinction to its current path of prosperity and growth – and a new direction.
In its recent fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation reported a record profit, in spite of the loss of its core business several years ago, brought on by a rapid increase in the digitalization of photography as well as the world financial crisis in 2008. In the year 2000, photographic products made up sixty percent of Fujifilm’s sales and two–thirds of its profit. Within ten years, however, the booming market for digital photography destroyed that business. In the midst of this, Mr. Komori guided the company through an historic transition from being a traditional photographic company into a leading global innovator.
In his book, Mr. Komori states, “The company’s core photographic film market was shrinking at a spectacular rate, and the situation was critical. Fujifilm had good management resources, first-rate technology, a sound financial footing, a reputable brand, and excellence in its diverse workforce. If all these assets could be effectively combined into a successful strategy and applied, I was sure that something could be done to save the day. The whole of Fujifilm was depending on my managerial skills to make it happen. I was gripped by a strong sense of mission. ‘Maybe I was brought into this world to overcome this crisis,’ I thought at the time. The hair stood up on the back of my neck.”
Fujifilm is now a leading global company with business interests in a variety of industries, including: healthcare, highly functional materials, document solutions, digital imaging, optical devices and graphic systems. The company has been applying its unique core fundamental technologies, resulting from 80 years of research and development that began with the design and production of fine, quality photographic products.
In 2015, Fujifilm will celebrate 50 years in the United States.
Innovating Out of Crisis is now available through Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, in both hard copyand e-book.
About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation is based in Valhalla, New York, and is the regional headquarters for the Americas. It is comprised of fourteen directly owned subsidiary companies in the U.S. and Canada, and two in Latin America: Brazil and Colombia. The company manufactures, markets and provides service for a broad spectrum of industries including photographic, medical imaging and informatics, pharmaceutical and other life science industries. Industrial segments include data storage, electronic materials, chemical, and graphic arts products and services. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmusa.com.
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including: healthcare, with medical systems, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics; graphic systems; highly functional materials, such as flat panel display materials; optical devices, such as broadcast and cinema lenses; digital imaging; and document products. These are based on a vast portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic, software and production technologies. In the year ended March 31, 2015, the company had global revenues of $20.8 billion, at an exchange rate of 120 yen to the dollar. Fujifilm is committed to environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit: www.fujifilmholdings.com.