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A Little Pentax History
from Wikipedia
In 1938 it changed its name to Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.
and by this time it was also manufacturing camera/cine lenses. In
the lead-up to World War II, Asahi Optical devoted much of its time
to fulfilling military contracts for optical instruments. At the end
of the war Asahi Optical was disbanded by the occupying powers,
being allowed to re-form in 1948. The company resumed its pre-war
activities, manufacturing binoculars and consumer camera lenses for
Konishiroku and Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō (later Konica and
Minolta respectively). In 1952 Asahi Optical introduced its first
camera, the Asahiflex (the first Japanese SLR using 35mm film).
Since then the company has been primarily known for its photographic
products. The company's photography products were imported to the
United States from the 1950s until the mid 1970s by Honeywell
Corporation and were labeled Honeywell Pentax rather than Asahi
Pentax, the name by which they were distributed to the rest of
the world. The company was renamed Pentax Corporation in 2002. It
was one of the world's largest optical companies, producing still
cameras, binoculars, and spectacle lenses as well as a variety of
other optical instruments. In 2004 Pentax had about 6000 employees.
In December 2006, Pentax started the process of merging with Hoya
Corporation to form 'Hoya Pentax HD Corporation'. Hoya's primary
goal was to strengthen its medical-related business by taking
advantage of Pentax's technologies and expertise in the field of
endoscopes, intraocular lenses, surgical loupes, biocompatible
ceramics, etc. It was speculated that Pentax's camera business could
be sold off after the merger. A stock swap was to be completed by
October 1, 2007 but the process was called off on April 11, 2007.
Pentax president Fumio Urano resigned over the matter, with Takashi
Watanuki taking over as president of Pentax. However, despite
Watanuki's previously stated opposition to a Hoya merger, on May 16
it was reported that Pentax had accepted "with conditions"
a sweetened offer from Hoya, according to a source familiar with the
matter. Pentax was under increasing pressure from its major
shareholders, Sparx Asset Management in particular, to accept Hoya's
bid. On August 6, 2007, Hoya completed a friendly public tender
offer for Pentax and acquired 90.59% of the company. On August 14,
2007, the company became a consolidated subsidiary of Hoya. On
October 29, 2007, Hoya and Pentax announced that Pentax, as the
company ceasing to exist, will merge with and into Hoya effective on
March 31, 2008. Hoya will retain the Pentax brand name.
Products
The period around 1950 marked the return of the Japanese
photographic industry to the vigorous level of the early 1940s, and
its emergence as a major exporter. The newly reborn industry had
sold many of its cameras to the occupation forces (with hugely more
disposable income than the Japanese) and they were well received.
The Korean War saw a huge influx of journalists and photographers to
the Far East, where they were impressed by lenses from companies
such as Nikon and Canon for their Leica rangefinder cameras, and
also by bodies by these and other companies to supplement and
replace the Leica and Contax cameras they were using. This was the
background to the development of Asahi Optical first camera.
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