August 2, 2005 – Operating profits at Casio were cut nearly in half for the first quarter of 2005, which ended June 30, despite strong sales of digital cameras. The fall in profits to 3.57 billion yen ($31.81 million) from 7.1 billion yen was attributed to diminished sales of small LCD screens for cellular phones and a lack of new mobile phone models introduced by Casio this quarter. Interestingly, Casio said that sales of LCD screens used in digital cameras remained firm.
Despite the fall in overall profits, Casio said that sales of its slim digital cameras remain strong, and based on rising demand for those products, the company boosted earning projections for its electronics division to 41 billion yen from 40 billion yen. In fact, thanks in part to sales of digital cameras, Casio’s earnings in general have been steadily rising over the past few years. The company remained confident that profit would rise 10 percent in the year ending March 31, 2006.
