Re: Mitsubishi, Kyocera, Contax, (Leica?)

[ATANOVIC <ATANOVIC@genre.com>]

At the risk of veering seriously off topic, the talk of a Mitsubishi-Leica 
"axis" is slightly far fetched.  Yes, Mitsubishi does effectively control 
Nikon, and are Nikon's biggest shareholders.  They also have a stake in Kyocera 
(Contax's parent), but are only the 9th largest shareholder, holding just 2% of 
the stock, behind Sumitomo (5.5%), Sanwa (4.2%), and Daiwa (2.3%), among others.

As you may know, Kyocera, based in Kyoto (hence the name), is the world's 
largest manufacturer of IC ceramic packages.  Intel is its biggest customer.  
It is also a leader in the field of bioceramics, including the manufacture of 
artificial bones.  It has in recent years diversified into optical and 
information equipment, and telecommunications.  It is an independent company.

Mitsubishi is an example of a Japanese conglomerate, or "keiretsu", of which 
there are several: Sumitomo, Mitsui, Marubeni, inter alia.  These conglomerates 
operate not through outright ownership of the businesses which make up their 
various enterprises, but rather through a system of extensive "cross-holdings" 
of shares.  In a sense, a Japanese keiretsu is a group of companies all of 
which own each other.  There is no holding company at the top.  The companies 
within the keiretsu also typically have smaller cross-holdings of shares in 
companies outside the keiretsu with which they have important business 
relationships, either as suppliers or customers.  The size of the holding 
represents the importance of the relationship, and in this way an independent 
company may over time find itself part of the keiretsu.  This is a feature of 
the Japanese corporate system, in which "hostile takeovers" or "corporate 
raiding" are unheard of.  Because of this, it is sometimes claimed that there 
is actually only one "company" in Japan, a sort of "Japan Inc."  Actually the 
size of the external cross-holdings varies greatly.  In some cases the holding 
is large and reflects a controlling interest, but in most cases the holding in 
any one outside company is quite small and designed as a show of good faith to 
maintain a working relationship.  Sometimes several keiretsu will 
simultaneously hold shares in a particular company.

Still, a Mitsubishi-Leica axis might be interesting and---who knows---might 
even revive a historical link: was a Luftwaffe Leica ever in a Mitsubishi Zero?

Adrian Tanovic
Tokyo