JIP director Shinichi Inagaki has been interviewed by Toyokeizai. Here are the main takeaways:

JIP will not sell :
They said there have been no cases of bankruptcy in their past 30 investments. They are confident they can regenerate the business and definitely do NOT plan to sell the business to the best bidders. The hope is to achieve a profitability in the first year. After that, instead of selling it to external companies, they will search for a way to revive it under JIP company.
This self-confidence is underpinned by the success of the PC “VAIO” business. It returned to profitability in the fiscal year ended May 2016, and has continued to increase profits every fiscal year. EMS (manufacturing outsourcing) business for robots has also started, and the core of the business is increasing.

JIP will maintain Olympus brand and not withdraw from overseas markets:
The Olympus brand will be maintained for the time being, and the maintenance of the sold products will be continued. Unlike the “VAIO”, there is no plan to ​​withdraw from the overseas market, and they will continue to sell overseas such as in Europe, which is their “main market”.  They also plan to keep using the new fab in Vietnam.

JIP plan to regenerate the MFT business:
Key to success is “focusing on unique features and technologies. They plan to shift from consumer-oriented market to the business-oriented market where “its features can be maximized”. JIP also plans to focus on the “video business” which so far Olympus hasn’t really focused on: “we are considering various markets such as consumer products specialized for video and business such as surveillance cameras”

The issue with human resources:
It has not been decided whether all human resources in the video business will move to the new company. JIP is negotiating with Olympus to acquire talent along with acquisition

What do you think about this?

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via Digicameinfo

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