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After a 20% price hike of photographic films in last 7 months, Fujifilm has officially announced it will again continue to raise photographic film prices up to 10%, applying from 4.1.2016. The price increase is significant and it will increase by at least double digits, but will vary depending on the product, market and region.
The prices will be increased for photographic films products including black and white, color negative, color reversal films and One-Time-Use cameras (OTUC).
Photographic film may not be dead, but it seems that it will be hard to reach users. The company said that demand continues to decrease while the cost of raw materials increased (raw materials such as silver and petrochemicals). Fujifilm also adds, in such cases, despite our efforts to maintain manufacturing costs, company is unable to endure the costs in the production process and must pass by raising prices and production materials prices have forced Fujifilm to increase prices in order to maintain this product line.
While Fujifilm is quite successful in production of the X-series Mirrorless Digital camera but its not the same with the Photographic film. Fujifilm has no promotional events, the film business segment is no longer a profitable in near future.
Mr. Robin Hunter, Fujifilm Enthusiastic, commenting on this price hike, ” Film sales are somewhere around the 1% mark from their peak sales before digital and mobile phones in particular became to norm. The market might be growing, but its still incredible niche so production costs will continue to rise as machines get older necessitating greater maintenance, plants become less profitable to keep running and sadly the expertise to produce film gets older and retires.” He also adds, “I think like many of my generation and older I still shoot the occasional roll of film for a bit of fun but we won’t do so forever. It’s the under 35’s market that is currently growing film usage and it is them that will decide the fate of film.
