In 1985, Minolta astonished the world with the α-7000, a single-lens reflex camera that focused with just a half-press of a button. The Hi-Matic, which flew into space, and the X-7, which garnered attention through its commercials, were also born from this company.

However, the company itself ceased to exist in 2003 after merging with Konica and being absorbed into a holding company. In 2006, its camera business ended, and the α brand was transferred to Sony.

Why did Minolta disappear?


▼ Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:32 January 19, 2006: The Day I Quit Photography
2:22 30 People on the Banks of the Mukogawa River
4:24 Harvest Rice Fields and the Factory Left by the Germans
6:52 The Camera That Went to Space
8:53 Two Years of Zero Dividends, and Leica
10:55 The 39,500 Yen X-7
12:52 The Alpha Shock
14:53 A 16.5 Billion Yen Settlement
17:14 The Digital Wall and Konishiroku
19:28 α Goes to Sony

In 1928, Kazuo Tajima started "Nichidoku Camera Shop" with two German engineers on the banks of the Mukogawa River in Hyogo Prefecture. The first camera, the Nifcarette, cost 20 yen each. In 1933, the name "Minolta" was born. Despite losing three factories in the war, Minolta recovered through exports after the war, and in 1962, its Hi-Matic camera was carried aboard the American spacecraft Friendship 7.

Following this, Minolta released the SR-T101 in 1966, the Leitz-Minolta CL (a collaboration with Leitz), the XD in 1977, and the X-7 in 1980 (body priced at 39,500 yen). In 1985, the α-7000, priced at 88,000 yen, caused the "α shock," with stores selling out even after an initial shipment of 10,000 units, boosting its domestic SLR market share to over 20%.

However, in 1987, Honeywell of the United States sued Minolta over its autofocus patent. In 1992, Minolta settled the case by paying $127.5 million (approximately 16.5 billion yen). In 1994, the company removed "camera" from its name. Its main source of sales had already shifted to photocopiers.

With its debts mounting, Minolta merged with Konica, a company that traced its roots back to Konishiroku, a major Japanese camera manufacturer in its early days, in 2003. In October of the same year, it was absorbed into a holding company and ceased to exist as a legal entity. In the age of digital cameras, image quality depended on the image sensor. In March 2006, Konica Minolta ended its camera business, and the α brand was taken over by Sony.

*In this video, "ceased" refers to Minolta Corporation as a legal entity and its camera business. The name "Minolta" remains in the company name Konica Minolta, and α is a Sony camera brand.

"Why Did That Company Disappear?" is a daily series at 6:00 PM, exploring the origins and disappearances of companies that once existed in Japan.

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