The Kyocera tie-in to Universal Optical Industries

I'll add just a couple more links and details to the previous list...

As of 2003, Universal was listed as a 100% wholly owned company in Kyocera's U.S. SEC filings report (pg. 22): www.kyocera.co.jp/ir/library/pdf/20-f/fy03.pdf

At some point in time, Universal had a client relationship to Toa Optical Technologies Ltd.: toa-rika.co.jp/en/suppliers/

There's not a lot of information beyond some of the most basic business details as found above. If the company last operated in anything optics related only up to 2008 when they totally switched focus to a logistics operation (which is bizarre, in and of itself) then there may not be a lot of internet 'residue' left to get much of anything more meaningful without knowing a few defunct website addresses to do some archive searches via the WayBack website.

I'll make a few guesses as food for thought...

It's fairly obvious to me that Kyocera had a rethink on the camera business and seems to have come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be a major contributor to the bottom line. I've seen a few breakdowns on the percentage of the profits as-generated by their various divisions, and the combined volume of both the photographic and optical parts of the business never went beyond the single digits - usually around 7%. By the time that Kyocera started to shift who did what, the old Tomioka parts of the Yashica company were moved into making lenses and other optical measurement products, into Kyocera's Machine Vision division (aka, Kyocera Optec). I can't speculate what that shift did to the bottom line, but I can't imagine that they did it to loose money. There must have been a better return in selling industrial optics, than to continue in the consumer market for such a small percentage return on their investment.

It's also no secret that slowly and quietly, Kyocera began to supplant Yashica's offerings - in both cameras and lenses - with Kyocera branded products. A perfect case in point, is the Zoomate 110W thread that biggles3 just posted, where the camera is Kyocera (primarily) and Yashica branded, but the lens is clearly marked as Kyocera's. I'd make a guess that the lenses used in that camera originated from Universal, and used optical designs that were based on Tomioka's diagrams that they already owned. They may have been tweaked and reworked to be produced in Universal's Hong Kong factory, or possibly in their Brazilian factory, and then exported (or even 3rd party rebranded) to other markets. The basic camera designs could have been licensed, and/or purchased as sub-assemblies, from yet another supplier that was not inside the Kyocera group of companies.

They may not have wanted to be fully involved with photographic gear in the same way they were with Yashica, but they may have seen a profit opportunity to rework their camera business into something that had value as a spin-off division they could sell - ala, Jebson - without having to provide the 'Yashica' pieces they wanted to keep - i.e., Tomioka. Universal provided a replacement for the optical components that would have previously come from them, and with that substitution, they sold off Kyocera photo products, and not Yashica's. The buyer (MF Jebson) bought the name, but not the products produced by Yashica, proper... but built and designed by 'Kyocera'.

It wouldn't surprise me that the business offices' address would be listed as - and physically based in - Hong Kong, but the actual factory and R&D could be anywhere in the world, and not necessarily in either HK or mainland China.

Using the address for Universal (as-published in the AX manual), they would have been at 133 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. That address is simply an office space (they were on the 14th floor) at the MG Tower, which has only rented office space, and all the offices cover all 21 floors. [ MG Tower, on OpenStreetMaps ]

According to Wikipedia, Hong Kong has 1,108 km2 (428 sq mi.) of total space for both the island and the waterways, so I imagine there's not a lot of spare land for a lot of manufacturing facilities, so it's probably safe to assume that would be the case for those who'd need lots of floor space for machinery and production lines at the scale most Camera/lens makers would require.

There are lots of cameras, lenses and other optical gear marked "Hong Kong" -- some from Yashica, and some even from Seagull -- that were obviously not made in Hong Kong.