Ira H. Bryant IV wrote:
In Japan, it is very common for a company to hold another company's stock.
That's especially true when one company is a supplier to another company.
It seems likely to me that this is true of Hoya and Tokina, though I don't
know where a person could go to check on it.
1) We all know that Pentax has been integrated into Hoya. Pentax Imaging is
actually a division of Hoya Corporation.
See: http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/company/company_02_03.html
2) It is also quite evident that Tokina, Kenko and Slik are the same
company.
See: http://www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/
Then, it seems that there is a close close relationship between Tokina and
Hoya, which should remain different companies tough.
That does not prevent Tokina to be owned by Hoya. Heck, they even sell the
same product with the same name! See "Pro1 D" line of filters, available as
Kenko (brand used in Japan) and as Hoya (brand used worldwide).
Also, quoting from photography on the net
(http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=346581):
"THK Photo Products, Inc. is the U.S. distributor for Tokina Co., Ltd.
(Tokyo), one of the top manufacturers of converter lenses for the 35mm
single-lens reflex camera, for all products of the camera accessory
manufacturer, Kenko Co., Ltd. (Tokyo), camera filters of the worldly
prestigious brand of HOYA Corporation (Tokyo). and the most copied line of
tripods today.SLIK Corporation (Tokyo).
"Having Tokina Optical Corporation as its core, a successful merge with
Kenko Optics of America took place in June of 1993. As a consequence to the
merge, the company has been renamed to its present name of T (Tokina), H
(Hoya), K (Kenko) Photo Products, Inc.
"As we continue to commit to our current distribution of camera products, we
also strive to expand in the area of industrial equipment and mass media
optical products, further providing extensive services as the leading
optical products manufacturer in the world."
Some more hints:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=417883
http://www.thkphoto.com/
At the end, I don't know who owns who, to which extent, etc, but all above
companies must be related.
Dario
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