Fujifilm Print history

The combination of outside consultation and its own research allowed the company to introduce its first film as an independent in 1936, as well as a motion picture negative film.

Fuji built a second factory in Odawara in 1938.

In 1945 Allied bombing raids partially damaged two Fuji factories, but recovery during the postwar era involved more than infrastructural repair.

The Allied Powers allowed civilian trade to resume in 1947, and Fuji immediately began exporting to outlets in South America and Asia.

In the meantime, it resumed color research and produced its first color film in 1948.

In 1949 Indian buyers received a shipment of Fuji motion picture film, the company's first substantial postwar sale.

Fuji, now able to supply its products in large quantities, introduced its first amateur roll film in 1952.

Natural Color Photography Co., Ltd. (name changed to Fuji Color Photo Co., Ltd., in June 1953 and subsequently transformed into Fujicolor Service Co., Ltd.), established

Fuji first entered North America in 1955, and established its United States subsidiary (Fuji Photo Film United StatesA., Inc.) ten years later.

It established its export sales division in 1956, and soon after that, it was able to pocket 27 export agreements in Asia, North America, and Central America.

By 1958 Fuji had introduced three additional black-and-white roll films.

In 1962, Fuji Photo and U.K.-based Rank Xerox Limited (now Xerox Limited) launched Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. through a joint venture.

The company responded quickly by making the first amateur slide film in 1966.

Fuji learned this after it introduced a cartridge-film 8-millimeter home movie system in 1967.

In 1970 Fuji had nine overseas offices, and by the end of the decade it had 14 offices and subsidiaries abroad.

In 1972 it marketed the first film under its own brand name.

In 1977 this research led to the introduction of Japan's first eight-inch floppy computer discs.

In 1979 Kodak applied for 255 patents in the United States and Japan, compared to Fuji's 270.

By 1982 Fuji's share of the United States market had slowly climbed to 5 percent, and Ohnishi set a 10 percent goal.

Fuji steadily increased its United States advertising budget, peaking when it outbid Kodak as sponsor to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Fuji introduced its DS-1P camera in 1988 at the Photokina fair.

Besides, it also launched Fujix Simple-Hi 8 camcorder in 1993, which was the most compact camcorder back then.

The company was affected overseas by the continuing strength of the yen and at home by unexpected competition, highlighted in 1994 when the largest Japanese supermarket chain, Daiei, began selling store-brand 35-millimeter film made by AGFA-Gevaert.

In May 1995, Kodak filed a petition with the US Commerce Department under section 301 of the Commerce Act arguing that its poor performance in the Japanese market was a direct result of unfair practices adopted by Fuji.

In another key growth area, Fuji by this time had become the world's largest supplier of specialized films for liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, a sector it had entered in 1996.

Under this leadership team, Fuji penetrated deeper into the United States market, boosting its market share as high as 20 percent during 1997, a year in which it cut the prices for its film in the United States market and began manufacturing color film at its Greenwood complex.

On January 30, 1998, the WTO announced a “sweeping rejection of Kodak’s complaints” about the film market in Japan.

Shigetaka Komori, who joined Fujifilm in 2000, took a 6-year plan named Vision 75 aiming to save Fujifilm from falling and regain profitability.

After 2001 when the company went through a rapid drop in sales from the most profitable products, Fujifilm made an instant decision of changing its business model through innovation as well as external growth.

In July 2002 Fuji bolstered its stranglehold on the Japanese photo market by outbidding Kodak for Jusphoto Co., Ltd., one of the nation's leading film-processing chains.

You can see the history after October 2006 on the FUJIFILM Holdings website.

As it had readily available expertise on human skin, Fujifilm started its cosmetic lineup named Astalift in 2007.

To further ensure sustainability and reduce dependability to imaging sector, Fujifilm also went for a business alliance with Toyama Chemical and Taisho Pharmaceutical to step into the pharmaceutical industry in 2008.