Konica, Minolta union could cause reshuffle in Taiwan's digicam sector

Taipei, Jan. 9, 2003 (CENS)--The industry rankings of contract manufacturers of digital cameras in Taiwan are expected change in the wake of the planned union of Japan's Konica Corp. and Minolta Co. under a single holding company sometime in July.

Premier Image Technology Corp., Asia Optical Co., Altek Corp., Primax electronics Inc., Mustek Systems Inc., Inventec Multimedia & Telecom Corp., and Minton Optic Industry Co., are all seeking cooperation opportunities with Konica and Minolta.

The Taiwanese manufacturers are especially interested in teaming up with the two Japanese giants to tap the mainland market.

Premier is currently a contract manufacturer for both Konica and Minolta. The company said 11% of its total sales revenues came from orders placed by Konica and Minolta last year.

A contract manufacturer of Minolta, Primax said it would closely watch the possible merger between Konica and Minolta. Primax currently makes two-million-pixel digital cameras from its mainland plant for Minolta on an original equipment manufacturer basis.

A domestic industry analyst said the merger between Minolta and Konica would impact domestic contract manufacturers of digital cameras to some extent and lead to a reshuffle in the industry rankings of domestic contract manufacturers.