Business-Related and Other Risks

The following types of risk have the potential for affecting the Fujifilm Group's financial condition and business performance. Text referring to the future is written from the perspective of the end of the fiscal year under review.

Fujifilm provides products and services in diverse markets throughout the world, and the share of consolidated sales accounted for by overseas sales was approximately 56% in the fiscal year under review. There is a possibility that performance will be greatly affected by economic conditions throughout the world and particularly by currency exchange rates.
To reduce the impact of currency exchange rates on performance, Fujifilm undertakes hedging measures, primarily using forward exchange contracts for the U.S. dollar and the euro, but currency exchange fluctuations, depending on their degree, still could have an impact on performance.

In the business fields where the Fujifilm Group operates, the intensification of competition with other companies may lead to falls in the selling prices of products, shorter product lifecycles and the emergence of alternative products. These phenomena may negatively impact the Company's net sales and consequently earnings, forcing the Company to increase R&D expenses and revaluate goodwill and other intangible assets it holds. In the future, Fujifilm will continually work to develop products incorporating new technologies and to support the sales of such products with marketing activities, and the success or failure of these activities is expected to have an influence on performance.

Fujifilm has diverse patents, know-how, and other intellectual property that enable competitive benefits, but such future events as the expiration of patents and emergence of replacement technologies may make it difficult to maintain competitive superiority.
In the wide range of business fields with which Fujifilm is associated, there are numerous companies with sophisticated and complex technologies, and the number of these technologies is rising rapidly. Developing Fujifilm's business operations sometimes may require the use of other companies' patents, know-how, and other intellectual property, and when negotiations for the use of such intellectual property are not successful, there is a potential for performance to be affected. In addition, Fujifilm is developing its business while constantly taking care not to infringe on the intellectual property of other companies, but it must be recognized that, in reality, it is difficult to completely eliminate the risk of becoming involved with litigation. If Fujifilm becomes involved with litigation, not only litigation costs would arise, but also the potential for compensatory payment costs that could have an influence on performance.

In the regions where Fujifilm is developing its operations, diverse government regulations exist that apply to Fujifilm's operations, such as business and investment permits as well as limits and regulations related to imports and exports. Moreover, Fujifilm is subject to commercial, fair trade, patent, consumer protection, tax, foreign exchange administration, environmental, and other laws and regulations.
If Fujifilm were not to strictly comply with one of these laws or regulations, it could be subject to fines. Moreover, it is possible that these laws and regulations might be tightened or greatly changed, and in such cases, it is impossible to deny the possibility that Fujifilm's activities could be limited or that Fujifilm might have to bear greater costs to attain compliance or respond to the changes. Accordingly, these laws and regulations have the potential for affecting Fujifilm's performance.

As Fujifilm engages in manufacturing operations throughout the world, it is possible that provision of Fujifilm's products could be halted by earthquakes or other natural disasters, the discontinuation of the manufacture of raw materials and components, the bankruptcy of suppliers, terrorist activities, wars, labor strikes, major disease outbreaks, and other factors that cause disorder. It is also possible that a rapid rise in the price of raw materials could affect Fujifilm's performance.
Fujifilm manufactures its products in conformance with rigorous quality control standards, but the possibility of defective products does exist. If Fujifilm were to have to respond to such an event by undertaking product recalls or other actions, Fujifilm's performance might be affected.

The Fujifilm Group is currently promoting the “Slim & Strong Drive” cost-reform program. Looking ahead, the Group intends to add to the momentum of this Groupwide program by implementing effective measures to constantly improve management efficiency. The implementation of the program may, however, cause the Group to incur contingent expenses associated with organizational changes and business and operational restructuring, and in such cases, the Group's performance may be adversely affected.