New Fujifilm factory in the Philippines: 18 million lenses a year by FY2015

Fujifilm just announced at their global website here that because of the “increasing demand for high-performance lenses” they now started the operation of a new optical lens factory in the Philippines. The goal: “the production to 18 million lenses a year by FY2015, […] The total investment for the new factory is 2.3 billion yen.”

After the X-M1 and the XC 16-50 / XF 27mm (produced in Thailand and China) Fuji now expands also in the Philippines. It seems that Fujifilm products will be less and little “made in Japan”. But I hope that now the company won’t annoy customers with long waiting times anymore (a lot people are still waiting for the X100S and XF 55-200. Bad news for aficionados to the “made in Japan”, but good news for all those who switched to the X (or plan to switch) and do not want to wait eternally for new cameras or lenses.