Initiatives in the Printing Field

Beyond its support for communications such as publishing and newspapers, the printing industry is also vital for economic and day-to-day activities in modern life including areas such as packaging, financing and electronics. Thus, printing is an essential industry for enhancing quality of life, a fundamental commitment of our corporate philosophy.
Fujifilm has positioned its Graphic Systems Business as a priority venture that provides printing equipment, materials, and software for the printing industry. To satisfy the needs of customers for producing a wide variety of printed materials, we are aggressively investing in R&D and production equipment in addition to engaging in M&As. For example, worldwide demand is rising for CTP plates, which are core materials for offset printing. Fujifilm has established four global bases for the production of offset printing plates anchored in Japan, the U.S., Europe and China, and is implementing global service operations to ensure the stable and efficient supply of high-quality products.
We intend to achieve a 40% share of the world market through an additional investment of approximately ¥ 15 billion to expand our manufacturing line in Europe, where a new one will begin operating in 2010, and by aggressively increasing supply to the rapidly growing markets in the “BRICs” and “NEXT11,” emerging economies. And to keep pace with anticipated growth in the digital printing market, we acquired the Sericol Group, which commands the top share of the market for UV ink for industrial ink jet printers, and Dimatix, the leading manufacturer of industrial inkjet printer heads. We also bolstered our R&D related to cutting-edge ink jet technologies by establishing the Advanced Marking Research Laboratories. We intend to further expand our digital printing business in cooperation with Fuji Xerox.