chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Well Nikon had a triple whammy 2020 - (1) the pandemic which affected all camera makers, (2) sluggish camera sales due to smartphone photography for the masses (volume sales) carried over from previous years and (3) R&D expenses related to new product releases (not as much as in prior years but a minor factor)

Also Nikon has not made the best decisions in product design - they really needed a killer Z line product on par with the D500 and D850 releases. They are also not as diverse as the other camera makers so they can ill afford bad decision making in their camera department.

I'm with the Angry Photographer in that they should have released a hybrid DSLR/mirrorless F-mount model - they have the patent for it!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Sony makes Nikon's high-end sensors. They've embedded a clever bug into all Nikon cameras with these Sony sensors: the Nikon suddenly dies for every new Sony mirrorless sold. Just look online for 'Nikon Sudden Death Syndrome'. I've seen a thread where they think from your Nikon serial number you can identify the week number in the calendar year (01 -> 53) your camera is most likely to die.

hookedupin2005 Loc: Northwestern New Mexico

So, if 87% of the market is gone, why is ONLY Nikon in serious financial trouble? Your logic make no sense whatsoever.

gwilliams6

You know American investors were screaming for Sony to sell off their imaging division and Sony resisted that investor pressure . Japanese corporations operate with traditional philosophies quite different from the scorched-earth buy and sell of American corporations and aggressive wall street traders and acquisition folks. Sony said as much when they wouldn't yield to this mainly American sell pressure and just did a restructuring.

Sony Execs have said they will never get rid of one of their major and continually growing profit producers, their imaging division. That would be a foolish move that Sony will never make. If you think that will ever happen, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you, lol.

Olympus camera division, now sold and wholly owned by JIP does very well in the Japan market and wont go away anytime soon. Nikon is restructuring, ending their compact point and shoot cameras which Nikon says was decimated by smartphones. They will concentrate on DSLR models (that still sell well in Japan), and improving their mirrorless offerings, as the mirrorless market is their best hope of reaching profitability in a global camera market that has declining overall numbers in all segments. Cheers

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

"They've embedded a clever bug into all Nikon cameras with these Sony sensors"?

Sony doesn't want to stay in business? Sony wants law suits and all companies questioning Sony's ethics? All the many other companies that work with Sony in areas other than cameras wondering if their products are be "sabotaged"? Do you really think Sony would be willing to go down that rabbit hole?

Do you think it is possible that Nikon has an internal design problem that either doesn't work well with the sensor, requires the sensor to do things beyond the sensor's intended specifications, or even ordered the sensors from Sony with less than what was really needed?

Good businesses have made mistakes in design and specifications that have cost those companies in sales and reputation. Is it possible Nikon did such and cannot sue anybody but themselves?

greger Loc: benton harbor, mi

good point.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Nikon publishes their financials about all their major divisions, personal cameras being just one of several.

https://www.nikon.com/about/corporate/businesses/

Jfendley

I have a a6000 Sony and a HX400 50 x zoom Sony camera. I take a lot of Wildlife and Landscape pictures. I just bought a new Samsung s20 phone and it's camera is unbelievable. However, it will not replace my cameras because of the limited Zoom.

kkayser

Reference please

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

Myth - Millions of cell phone are sold every year. People are not buying them strictly for the camera features and those that do are not serious about photography, just social media. The sheer volume of sales skews the percentages of camera sales.

I think photographers are holding on to their equipment for longer periods of time before upgrading. Also so called photographers are becoming a dime a dozen now - just look at Craigslist listings. Only 1 in 15 are worth anything but they all have camera equipment of some kind.

Frida Loc: Atlanta

Everybody with a phone & a finger considers themselves a photographer-minus 30+ yrs experience

Frida Loc: Atlanta

Thanks for this comment. Doubt I'll ever travel in the mtns of Haiti w/only my iPhone as "equipment".

howIseeit Loc: Kootenays, BC Canada

dick ranez

I was predicting several years ago that by 2025 there would only be three players in the camera market, Canon, Fuji and Sony, with Panasonic being a long shot. My reasoning was that Olympus would be sold to Panasonic as the only other player with m4/3, Pentax was, if not dying, at least on life support and Nikon would be adsorbed into Sony as a lens supplier since Sony lenses were less than stellar. The surviving companies were ones that made their own sensors and were not at the mercy of the market. Phone cameras were not quite as good then as they are now, but the camera industry shrinkage was plain to see. I also predicted that Apple would come out with an enthusiasts camera but with more phone like controls and better computer integration. That prediction was before Apple dropped their interest in photography applications like Aperture.

User ID

Anytime. All you need. Go for it.