07.20.22
Rank: #29 (Last year: #27)
¥407.5B ($3.34 Billion - Life Care)
Prior Fiscal: ¥341.8 Billion
Percentage Change: +19.2%
R&D Expenditure: ¥25.3B
Best FY21 Quarter:Q2 ¥195.9B
Latest Quarter: Q4 ¥106.1B (¥173.8B total)
No. of Employees: 38,376 (total)
Global Headquarters:
Tokyo, Japan
KEY EXECUTIVES:
Eiichiro Ikeda, President and CEO
Ryo Hirooka, CFO
Augustine Yee, Chief Business Development Office
and Chief Legal Officer
Tomoko Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Actually, it probably could have been worse and maybe would have been worse, but the world will never truly know for sure. History has a way of trivializing such matters.
The narrative in question begins in November 1941—a time of great unrest on planet Earth. At least 35 countries were at war—among them, Japan, which at the time, had been on a near 50-year land-grabbing spree in the Far East.
Japan had officially joined the global conflict 14 months prior, siding with Germany and Italy in its territorial takeover quest. Rising tensions with the United States reached a boiling point during the second half of 1941, and ultimately led to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 that year.
Despite the war’s escalation, Shoichi and Shigeru Yamanaka decided to open an optical glass production plant in Hoya, a small town within the Toyko metropolitan area. The Yamanaka brothers officially established their new venture in November 1941—at precisely the same time the Japanese Imperial Conference finalized war plans against the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Great timing.
The rest, to coin a phrase, is history: Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), decimating the fleet there, and forcing the United States to enter World War II.
Surprisingly, the Pearl Harbor bombing had no immediate impact on the Yamanaka brothers’ entrepreneurial aspirations. Undeterred in their vision, the pair launched their company and began manufacturing optical lenses; nearly three years later, they officially incorporated their undertaking with ¥1.2 million.
Their fortunes changed, however, with the Allies’ victory. A weak post-war optical lens market forced the Yamanakas to switch their business’ main focus to crystal glass manufacturing. Crystal production remained the company’s core competency until the firm launched progressive multifocal lenses in April 1967 and soft contact lenses nearly six years later. In 1974, the company began producing IC substrates.
The company further diversified its offerings during the 1980s, by entering the intraocular and aspherical molded-glass lens markets. It also changed its name to reflect its history and honor its founding city, though interestingly, the municipality itself no longer exists (it was merged with a neighboring city, Tanashi, in 2001 to create the city of Nishi-Tokyo).
“It is crucial that we are able to adapt ourselves quickly and flexibly over the years to continue finding better ways to become even stronger in the markets at which we compete,” former HOYA Corporation president and CEO Suzuki Hiroshi said last fall in marking the company’s 80th birthday. “This diversification of our business forms the foundation of what HOYA is today, and the company will continue to seek an opportunity to further diversify and prepare itself for the coming next decades. Supporting HOYA’s enthusiasm is our commitment to become an undisputed leader in niche markets through creativity and innovation. This is the basis for building a strong business and is also the very essence of HOYA’s philosophy that has been handed down over the years.”
That philosophy served the company well in its 80th year—total revenue climbed 20.7% to ¥661.4 billion and profit surged 22.1% to ¥200.3 billion. HOYA scored gains in all geographic areas and in both reporting segments in the year ended March 31, 2022, with Asia/Oceania reporting the largest growth (39.1% to ¥258.6 billion), followed by Japan, Europe, and the Americas.
Japanese sales jumped 24.9% to ¥164.6 billion, while Europe’s proceeds swelled 19.8% to ¥130.7 billion, and the Americas revenue increased 15.1% to ¥99.9 billion.
HOYA’s Information Technology and Life Care business units posted double-digit growth as well. Information Technology grew revenue 23.6% to ¥248.4 billion, and Life Care expanded FY22 sales 19.2% to ¥407.5 billion. Life Care revenue clearly benefitted from robust healthcare- and medical-related product growth; higher sales of eyeglass and contact lenses boosted health care product revenue 19.2% to ¥299.8 billion whereas improved demand for medical endoscopes and intraocular lenses for cataracts enhanced medical product proceeds 19.5% to ¥107.7 billion.
Medical endoscopes is likely to become a solid growth driver for HOYA’s Life Care unit over the next few years, thanks to PENTAX Medical’s joint venture with Jiangsu Vedkang Medical Science and Technology. Announced last May, the initiative will produce single-use, flexible medical endoscopic therapeutic products.
Named PENTAX Medical Therapeutics (Jiangsu), the joint venture will leverage PENTAX’s marketing network to provide advanced single-use devices to clients globally. The offering will be reinforced by Vedkang’s production and research and development framework.
“We are excited to establish this collaboration with Vedkang to further advance our mission to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare around the world. Our collaboration will support the fast-growing Endotherapy segment as new and innovative procedures achieve traction and penetration worldwide. Instilling clinical confidence by delivering high performance, reliability and value to our customers is at the core of everything we do,” Gerald W. Bottero, global president of PENTAX Medical, said in announcing the partnership. “Now PENTAX Medical together with Vedkang looks forward to offering integrated endoscopy solutions to our valued global customers.”
The new company, PENTAX Medical Therapeutics (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., will be headquartered in China and will develop and commercialize products for key markets in Europe, Asia and Americas.
“PENTAX Medical has always been a valuable business partner to Vedkang, and we are delighted to continue our close relationship in this joint venture by pursuing further possibilities with doctors and patients across the world,” Vedkang Chairman and CEO Zhuang XiaoJing said.
Along with its new joint venture, PENTAX Medical welcomed Rainer Burkard as global president of PENTAX Lifecare Division.
Burkard joined HOYA Lens Deutschland GmbH in 2002 and was head of Marketing until 2007. He was then promoted to the HOYA Vision Care global headquarters as general manager, Business Development. In 2014, Burkard integrated the European operations of SEIKO OPTICAL and led the development of the SEIKO Xchanger collection, which won the prestigious Silmo d’Or award for excellence in optical innovation. Burkard joined PENTAX Europe GmbH as CEO (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in August 2015, and expanded his global role as chief commercial officer of the Americas in July 2020.
Burkard assumed his new role on April 1, about a month after Eiichiro Ikeda succeeded Hiroshi as HOYA’s president and CEO.
¥407.5B ($3.34 Billion - Life Care)
Prior Fiscal: ¥341.8 Billion
Percentage Change: +19.2%
R&D Expenditure: ¥25.3B
Best FY21 Quarter:Q2 ¥195.9B
Latest Quarter: Q4 ¥106.1B (¥173.8B total)
No. of Employees: 38,376 (total)
Global Headquarters:
Tokyo, Japan
KEY EXECUTIVES:
Eiichiro Ikeda, President and CEO
Ryo Hirooka, CFO
Augustine Yee, Chief Business Development Office
and Chief Legal Officer
Tomoko Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Actually, it probably could have been worse and maybe would have been worse, but the world will never truly know for sure. History has a way of trivializing such matters.
The narrative in question begins in November 1941—a time of great unrest on planet Earth. At least 35 countries were at war—among them, Japan, which at the time, had been on a near 50-year land-grabbing spree in the Far East.
Japan had officially joined the global conflict 14 months prior, siding with Germany and Italy in its territorial takeover quest. Rising tensions with the United States reached a boiling point during the second half of 1941, and ultimately led to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 that year.
Despite the war’s escalation, Shoichi and Shigeru Yamanaka decided to open an optical glass production plant in Hoya, a small town within the Toyko metropolitan area. The Yamanaka brothers officially established their new venture in November 1941—at precisely the same time the Japanese Imperial Conference finalized war plans against the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Great timing.
The rest, to coin a phrase, is history: Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), decimating the fleet there, and forcing the United States to enter World War II.
Surprisingly, the Pearl Harbor bombing had no immediate impact on the Yamanaka brothers’ entrepreneurial aspirations. Undeterred in their vision, the pair launched their company and began manufacturing optical lenses; nearly three years later, they officially incorporated their undertaking with ¥1.2 million.
Their fortunes changed, however, with the Allies’ victory. A weak post-war optical lens market forced the Yamanakas to switch their business’ main focus to crystal glass manufacturing. Crystal production remained the company’s core competency until the firm launched progressive multifocal lenses in April 1967 and soft contact lenses nearly six years later. In 1974, the company began producing IC substrates.
The company further diversified its offerings during the 1980s, by entering the intraocular and aspherical molded-glass lens markets. It also changed its name to reflect its history and honor its founding city, though interestingly, the municipality itself no longer exists (it was merged with a neighboring city, Tanashi, in 2001 to create the city of Nishi-Tokyo).
“It is crucial that we are able to adapt ourselves quickly and flexibly over the years to continue finding better ways to become even stronger in the markets at which we compete,” former HOYA Corporation president and CEO Suzuki Hiroshi said last fall in marking the company’s 80th birthday. “This diversification of our business forms the foundation of what HOYA is today, and the company will continue to seek an opportunity to further diversify and prepare itself for the coming next decades. Supporting HOYA’s enthusiasm is our commitment to become an undisputed leader in niche markets through creativity and innovation. This is the basis for building a strong business and is also the very essence of HOYA’s philosophy that has been handed down over the years.”
That philosophy served the company well in its 80th year—total revenue climbed 20.7% to ¥661.4 billion and profit surged 22.1% to ¥200.3 billion. HOYA scored gains in all geographic areas and in both reporting segments in the year ended March 31, 2022, with Asia/Oceania reporting the largest growth (39.1% to ¥258.6 billion), followed by Japan, Europe, and the Americas.
Japanese sales jumped 24.9% to ¥164.6 billion, while Europe’s proceeds swelled 19.8% to ¥130.7 billion, and the Americas revenue increased 15.1% to ¥99.9 billion.
HOYA’s Information Technology and Life Care business units posted double-digit growth as well. Information Technology grew revenue 23.6% to ¥248.4 billion, and Life Care expanded FY22 sales 19.2% to ¥407.5 billion. Life Care revenue clearly benefitted from robust healthcare- and medical-related product growth; higher sales of eyeglass and contact lenses boosted health care product revenue 19.2% to ¥299.8 billion whereas improved demand for medical endoscopes and intraocular lenses for cataracts enhanced medical product proceeds 19.5% to ¥107.7 billion.
Medical endoscopes is likely to become a solid growth driver for HOYA’s Life Care unit over the next few years, thanks to PENTAX Medical’s joint venture with Jiangsu Vedkang Medical Science and Technology. Announced last May, the initiative will produce single-use, flexible medical endoscopic therapeutic products.
Named PENTAX Medical Therapeutics (Jiangsu), the joint venture will leverage PENTAX’s marketing network to provide advanced single-use devices to clients globally. The offering will be reinforced by Vedkang’s production and research and development framework.
“We are excited to establish this collaboration with Vedkang to further advance our mission to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare around the world. Our collaboration will support the fast-growing Endotherapy segment as new and innovative procedures achieve traction and penetration worldwide. Instilling clinical confidence by delivering high performance, reliability and value to our customers is at the core of everything we do,” Gerald W. Bottero, global president of PENTAX Medical, said in announcing the partnership. “Now PENTAX Medical together with Vedkang looks forward to offering integrated endoscopy solutions to our valued global customers.”
The new company, PENTAX Medical Therapeutics (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., will be headquartered in China and will develop and commercialize products for key markets in Europe, Asia and Americas.
“PENTAX Medical has always been a valuable business partner to Vedkang, and we are delighted to continue our close relationship in this joint venture by pursuing further possibilities with doctors and patients across the world,” Vedkang Chairman and CEO Zhuang XiaoJing said.
Along with its new joint venture, PENTAX Medical welcomed Rainer Burkard as global president of PENTAX Lifecare Division.
Burkard joined HOYA Lens Deutschland GmbH in 2002 and was head of Marketing until 2007. He was then promoted to the HOYA Vision Care global headquarters as general manager, Business Development. In 2014, Burkard integrated the European operations of SEIKO OPTICAL and led the development of the SEIKO Xchanger collection, which won the prestigious Silmo d’Or award for excellence in optical innovation. Burkard joined PENTAX Europe GmbH as CEO (Europe, Middle East and Africa) in August 2015, and expanded his global role as chief commercial officer of the Americas in July 2020.
Burkard assumed his new role on April 1, about a month after Eiichiro Ikeda succeeded Hiroshi as HOYA’s president and CEO.