Nikon may be best known to you and me primarily as a manufacturer of cameras such as the Z6 III, Z8 and Z50, plus some of the best lenses to fit onto them, but the Japanese giant has many other industrial interests and is also one of the biggest players in lithography equipment – the machines used to make computer chips.
But according to a report in the British business broadsheet the Financial Times, it is currently heavily reliant on sales of its semiconductor manufacturing technology to China, which makes up around 17 percent of Nikon's revenues, and is looking to market its machines to the tech sector in the wider world, as well as diversifying into new markets.
In an exclusive interview, Nikon president Muneaki Tokunari told the famously pink paper that geopolitical tensions are causing the company to rethink its strategy. The company has seen success in selling its less advanced equipment to China, whereas rivals have failed because their higher-tech machinery has been barred due to US export restrictions.
However, Mr Tokunari acknowledges that even its lower-tech lithography equipment could face similar restrictions in the future, particularly after the US Presidential elections in November. “The rules could get changed tomorrow,” the paper quotes Tokunari as saying.
Mr Tokunari went on to tell the Financial Times that he hoped to counter any downturn in its Chinese activities by marketing equipment to other countries looking to build their own chip supply chains. Nikon is also looking to diversify into new areas, such as 3D printing, having bought German 3D printer maker SLM Solutions Group.
Nikon has also recently seen inward investment, with Ray-Ban sunglasses parent company EssilorLuxottica SA buying a 5.1% stake.
