The Watcher

I've seen some posts lately suggesting that some camera brands might be in trouble. Here's what 24/7 Wall St. is saying.

6. Olympus

Except for market leaders like Canon, Sony and Nikon, no one wants to be in the digital camera business anymore. Worldwide unit sales are down 18% in 2012 since their peak in 2010 and are accelerating this year. It is no surprise then that Olympus, which only has 7% market share, has failed to generate a profit from its imaging business in any of the past three years. The decline caught the company’s management off guard. Actual sales were less than two-thirds of forecasts.

For the next fiscal year, the outlook is grim. Olympus expects compact camera unit sales to fall from 5.1 million to 2.7 million units worldwide. But these declines are hardly a new trend. A major reason for declining sales has been the increased adoption of smartphones — which now offer lenses and chips that capture high-quality images — as an alternative to digital cameras. Based on increased interest in high-end cameras, the company plans to focus on increasing sales of SLR cameras, which accounted for just 35% of its imaging business. Meanwhile, sales of its largest camera segment, compact cameras, will be cut in half. Of concern to investors, the company has pledged to stop issuing dividends until the camera business is restored to profitability.


Read more: Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2014 - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/05/23/ten-brands-that-will-disappear-in-2014/#ixzz35yuc769Z
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amehta Loc: Boston

This article was from May 2013. I would be curious if they have amended any of their forecasts since then.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Ho hum, old outdated, sky is falling news. I tell you what, you come up here with your rig, and I'll let you compare it to my Olympus setup by shooting it for a day. Even if they were to go belly up (which they will not), I'd still have one of the best cameras made on the marble that will last me several years. It's that good.

amehta Loc: Boston

That would be a very fun day! You would of course have to use my setup for the day too. :-D

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Founded in 1919, Olympus has been manufacturing cameras since 1938. Quite a long history. If letting go of its compact camera line is the only way for Olympus to survive, then so it shall be.

The Watcher

When you look at this link from the same time period with updates, it's easy to see why some thought Olympus wouldn't be around much longer. As I look around, it seem that Olympus will still be with us in 2015. http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/5/2612255/olympus-scandal

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

People who aren't into photography will use the camera in their cell phones to take pictures.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Deal. Maybe you'll convert me.

Nikonhermit Loc: In This Place

Read more: Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2014 - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/05/23/ten-brands-that-will-disappear-in-2014/#ixzz35yuc769Z
Follow us: @247wallst on Twitter | 247wallst on Facebook[/quote]

And that is one more reason why you don't want to base your investment decisions on the pronouncements of these self-made prophets. How many times have you known them to be right?

amehta Loc: Boston

:thumbup: :lol:

Though we'll need to do some 20x30" prints for either of us to convert.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

okay, so, let's get the numbers. the sales of digital imaging devices, for 2013 fell by 30% across all brands. the only increase seen is in mobile phones with cameras. much like cd players, the electronics industry is now trying to stuff many unrelated gimmicks into digital imaging devices, trying to reverse this trend.

more megapixels, as if beyond 12mp, that would make any appreciable difference, and all the rest of the burr brown computer chips they can stuff in a body.

the sony imaging division has seen such a fall off, the institutional investors are demanding sony spin the digital division off from the rest of the brand, as it is depressing profit.

now, as for this industry, generally speaking, the long term outlook is not particularly upbeat. and it's not a matter of nikon, canon, olympus, sony, fuji - it's simply that the market has become saturated, and it's a market which specifically sees no value in printed images.

it should also be noted there has been no fall off in film, paper or chemical purchases. that should also tell you something - film users are not particularly faddish, digital users, however, are an entirely different market.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

These pundits are pretty fickle. Basing decisions/conclusions on articles written by them over a year ago is not a good way to plan investments or purchases. Just a few days ago, the same WSJ was kicking Nikon and praising the m43 makers. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702303580504579633791058180538 Next month they'll probably have something else different to say.

username

Good article. Brief but does point out how nikon fails to make anything interesting and inovative. Olympus does not do the advertising nikon does. Of course canon can pretty much be substituted for nikon in most cases

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Yes, you and I will always have cameras made by camera companies. We were here before the digital camera craze began, and we'll be here long after it has passed. But, people like us buy only so many cameras in a lifetime, and people like us can support only so many camera companies. Much of the actual money is in the mass market, and they are moving on. Ironically, Kodak (the company that basically invented the entire industry) is largely past-tense, and this article is stating the obvious, that many more companies will follow in their path, and the (small) set of survivors is not yet clear, and that may affect us.

For example, there is a "religious war" brewing between those who will stick with the SLR style, and those who like the new mirror-less style. I mention that with trepidation because I really, really do not want to fight that battle here ... but that also affects this question. If Olympus and Sony would sell enough mirrorless cameras, that would affect the profits of Nikon and Canon, and thus it would affect the resources they could invest in pushing their technology forward, and that would affect what is available to us.

hb3 Loc: Texas

Dated information...here is some more recent information:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/04/02/mirrorless-camera-sales-rising-despite-continually-shrinking-global-camera

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2014/04/02/mirrorless-cameras-rise-according-amateur-photographer/#.U7A7qeb3jIc