rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

https://fstoppers.com/news/nikon-experiences-extraordinary-losses-will-restructure-company-165514

I can't think of anything else to say.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Me too! I can hardly believe it. If Sony and Canon come to the same point then I guess the cell phones have won, our loss.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Hmmm. I'm a life long Canon shooter but its very sad to hear Nikon is having financial difficulties.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First, it doesn't appear that Nikon's woes are related directly to their photography business, but to other specializations (follow the link and read the article). Overall corporate losses will effect their camera operations, though.

Among the Japanese camera manufacturers Sony, Canon, Fujifilm and Ricoh (Pentax) all are less vulnerable because they're much larger corporations than Nikon, with more diverse operations beyond photography.

2015 fiscal year numbers:

Sony.... gross revenue 8.1 trillion yen.... net 148 billion yen.
Canon.... gross revenue 3.8 trillion yen... net 220 billion yen.
Fujifilm... gross revenue 2.5 trillion yen.... net 137 billion yen.
Ricoh/Pentax... gr. revenue 2.33 trillion yen... net 68 billion yen.
Nikon... gross revenue 858 billion yen... net 18.4 billion yen.
Olympus' status is unknown right now, has been about the same size company as Nikon. But there are some big concerns. In 2016 they agreed to pay civil and criminal penalties, after their medical division was slapped with a $645 million fine (about 73 billion yen) by the U.S Justice Dept. for kickbacks and bribery of U.S. doctors and hospitals.

I too sincerely hope both Nikon and Olympus survive and thrive. They both make great photo gear and contribute a good deal to the industry as whole.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

We have to remember two things:

(1)"restructure" does not mean "give up"; it does mean "rethink what we are doing and how we are doing it"

(2) "lose money" is a bookkeeping thing; they may still have funding for R&D, but they have to be careful about how they use it.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

There is another thread along this same line here on UHH at:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-441963-1.html

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It's long but Tony makes some very good points.

http://nikonrumors.com/2017/02/14/is-nikon-failing-video-by-tony-northrup.aspx/

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Very interesting.

What is the source for these numbers?

RRS Loc: Not sure

I agree!

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

1100 people lost their jobs they say. The action camera sidestep was a big mistake it seems. Bet an 820 is the next step...

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

There is a big difference between 1100 production workers in "Asia" and 1100 engineers / managers in Japan.

RRS Loc: Not sure

That all depends, if you are one in either group, it still hurts!

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

Nikon has a number of product groups other than photogrpahy; it appears to be write offs in these areas that are causing the problem.

Maybe at last this will lead a trend toward closing the product lines that are being swamped by smart phone cameras and concentrating on those areas where the market remains strong. I could never understand how any company can make money out of all these little point and shoot devices which take considerable development resources and return pennies.

Edia Loc: Central New Jersey

Nikon is one of the only camera manufacturers that does not allow you to shoot raw with it's advanced point and shoot cameras. This is a marketing decision that leads raw shooters to buy more expensive DSLRs. I think it is wrong headed and will hurt them in the future.

G_Manos Loc: Bala Cynwyd, PA

This is a really good video, thank you for the link. Should be required viewing for serious Nikon users, as author Tony Northrup makes some right-on-the-money recommendations on what Nikon should be doing to enhance its line of DSLRs. Obvious stuff, such as hiring people who are really good programmers and who are adept at creating intuitive user interfaces, such as those produced for smartphones. It is so funny when he compares smartphone swipe-type, intuitive interfaces that have mind-reading search technology, with Nikon's seemingly unending stacks of menus that you have to practically memorize to use quickly.

He praises Nikon for getting out ahead of everybody on wireless communication with SnapBridge, and then slams it hard for the poor, unsatisfactory way it performs. He makes the point that, rather than listen to consumer complaints and immediately fix problems with its products, it makes a software or firmware product, installs it in a camera, and then walks away, not doing anything to update it when there are problems with it. And those are just two of a whole slew of suggestions that are spot on.

This is a long video, half an hour, but for my money worth every minute. Gives us die-hards hope.