Recently Fujifilm presented its Q1 results for the fiscal year 2025.
Now also the Q&A has been published at Fujifilm, and here is what Fujifilm CEO Teiichi Goto hat to say about the imaging division.
To give you a concrete example from the supply chain side, Imaging was the segment most affected by U.S. tariffs. We used to produce in China, but we also have manufacturing facilities in the Philippines and in Japan, plus we use some contract manufacturers in Southeast Asia. So, we reallocated production across those locations, basically shifted manufacturing away from China, and that was one of the key responses.
[…] Q1 was indeed a very strong quarter for us. The reasons include solid performance from the instax line, WIDE 400, WIDE Evo, and also Link 3, which we launched in the previous fiscal year, all performed well. In April, we launched the mini 41, which has a classic design, and that product also generated solid numbers.
As for digital cameras, the X100VI, an X100 series, and the half-frame X half model are both doing very well, with a significant backlog of orders building up. Demand continues to be strong. We still have several new products in the pipeline, and we expect the upward trend to continue.
Now, we know that Fujifilm is going to launch at least two more cameras in 2025, the Fujifilm GFX Eterna and the Fujifilm X-T30II successor. There will also be this new GF lens.
But keep in mind that the fiscal year in Japan ends March 31, so when the Fujifilm CEO talks about “several new products in the pipeline” for this fiscal year, he means everything that will be launched between now and March 31, 2026.
Could that include also the launch of the new 6th generation platform?
Well, recently, we analyzed Fujifilm’s sensor refresh cycle. If the company were to maintain the same pace as in the past, the 6th-generation platform would likely arrive around late 2025 or early 2026. Of course, this isn’t a rumor—just speculation based on Fujifilm’s historical timeline.
Whatever the CEO ment with “products in the pipeline“, he is definitely confident that those products will contribute to the “upward trend” Fujifilm is experiencing all over the world. Sure, maybe he means just new Instax cameras or maybe some other bold X half alike experiment. But from our humble point of view, we believe that a Fujifilm X-T6 or Fujifilm X-Pro4 would not hurt the positive trend either ;).
As far as the tariffs goes and their impact on the imaging division, the CEO has to say this:
Even if inflation in the U.S. leads to weaker demand or consumer hesitation, we believe there are still plenty of other markets globally where we can absorb that impact. We can shift focus to those areas, and if we do that well, we expect the strong performance to continue through the rest of the year.
This sounds like Fujifilm is willing to accept a sales decline in the U.S., while aiming to compensate for it by strengthening its market share in other regions.
via Fujifilm
