Japanese digital camera makers to cut US shipments

TOKYO: Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd., Nikon Corp, and other Japanese digital camera

makers plan to reduce US-bound Christmas shipments because of expected sluggish

demand, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Monday.

Fuji Photo plans to cut domestic and overseas shipments to 2.5 million units

from 2.7 million in the October-March second half, with all cuts to be in

shipments to the US market, the newspaper said.

The company last week trimmed its outlook for the year ending next March on

worries the September attacks in the United States would hurt sales.

Nikon plans to shift shipments of about 40,000 digital cameras to Europe from

the United States in an attempt to maintain the current output rate, the paper

said. Nikon also plans to cut US retail prices by an average $50 on a $500

camera, with others likely to follow suit, it said.

No one at Fuji Photo or Nikon could be reached for immediate comment. Olympus

Optical Co Ltd. also plans to reduce its shipments to the United States, with

total shipments expected to fall to around 3.0 million-3.3 million units from a

previous estimate of 3.7 million units, the newspaper said.

Canon Inc plans to reduce shipments to 2.5 million units from 3.0 million

units, the financial daily said.

(C) Reuters Limited.