Over the years, Fujifilm Japan has gradually shifted towards the healthcare sector, moving away from its traditional camera business. However, thanks to TikTok users, its retro-style X100 digital camera is now a huge success, boosting the company's profits.
Fujifilm is striving to meet the demand for the X100 camera, priced at $1599, which is adored by young social media users in their twenties due to its appearance and high-end features.
The X100V model has become so popular that in the fiscal year ending in March, the imaging division, including cameras, became the largest contributor to the company’s record profits. In the 2023 fiscal year, this division accounted for 37% of operating income, up from 27% the previous year.
After selling out last year, the company increased production in China, doubling the output of the newly launched VI model in March. Hirojiro Igarashi, Fujifilm Professional Imaging Department Manager, stated that he did not disclose specific details about the production increase or sales numbers.
"We found orders far exceeded our expectations. Despite increasing our preparations, we are still unable to meet the demand, which has been surprising," said Igarashi.
Established 90 years ago, Fujifilm competed with film industry leader Kodak for decades and finally surpassed Kodak in sales in 2001. However, this victory did not last long as the film industry soon collapsed, and digital cameras became a standard feature in mobile phones.
