rodox

will they create cameras that can give Harry Potter - like photos? that'd be revolutionizing. adding more MP, more stability and more of the same in such a saturated market just won't make it.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

From 43 Rumors.com:

JIP expects annual sales of 25-30 billion yen (last years sales were 43.6 billion yen)

In the medium term cameras will still be produced at the Olympus factory in Vietnam

The production of high quality lenses in Nagano will stop and be outsourced

JIP will continue to develop new MFT products and focus on the Micro Four Thirds system

IC recorder and binoculars businesses included in the video business will continue

JIP will also seek new businesses that utilize technology for the growth of the new company. In addition to external companies, JIP is also considering collaboration with areas with high affinity among the investment destinations that JIP has worked on.

It’s clear they want to focus on the MFT system development. But it’s sad to read that the lenses will be no more produced in Nagano.

---

Since Sony sells the same sensors to Olympus and Panasonic for use in their Micro 4/3 cameras, unless they make an updated one, neither company is likely to make cameras with it.

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Considering how Olympus did as a company in general, it is best that they don't have any say. Their business model is what got them into quagmire in the first place. I'm willing to bet JIP will pare it down to a profitable business still maintaining the quality parts.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

[quote=Red6]I think you make some good points. However, it could just as well go another way. If JIP, as many investment groups are, is primarily interested in making money, they could put the digital photography business of Olympus on life support and concentrate on other Olympus divisions such as medical and industrial optics.


The sale did not include the medical and industrial divisions!

JIP will do what it has to, to create value from the purchase. Outsourcing the lenses could include new technology and be a good thing. I would not bet against a company that makes a purchase of a division of another company. I did it in 1985, and created a new company out of a division of Star Chemical. It paid my bills for many years!

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Konica was the oldest photography company in Japan... actually was founded before and older than Eastman Kodak. Before WWII, the Japanese camera industry was thriving, but largely unknown outside the country. Konica (actually Konishi and then Konishiroku a the time) was essentially the "Kodak of Japan"... the dominant player in the market. In fact, there was a lot of exchange between the two companies. George Eastman visited the company in Japan, and founder Rokusaburo Sugiura visited Kodak in America.

Konica exited the SLR market in the late 1980s, but continued making other types of cameras. Rumor was that Konica had developed a replacement for their manual focus/mechanical aperture K/AR lenses... a new, larger bayonet mount with electronic connectivity to support AF and aperture control. But rather than launch a system based on the new mount themselves, Konica reportedly sold or licensed it to Sigma, who use it today in their SA-mount cameras and lenses.

Konica essentially bought Minolta in 2003, forming Konica-Minolta. While it was termed a "merger" at the time, Konica brought the money while Minolta brought the technology, including their A-mount DSLRs and rudimentary mirrorless designs.

But in 2006 Konica-Minolta sold off the photography division to Sony, who kept the SLR/DSLR tech for themselves, but immediately sold the well-respected Minolta (now Konica-Minolta) light meter division to Kenko, who have run with it ever since.

Of course, Sony has done quite well with their purchase.

And Konica-Minolta continues to be a big player in office equipment, printing, healthcare and measuring instrumentation.

Maybe the same thing will happen with Olympus. JIP has continued to sell Vaio laptop computers, a division they bought from Sony. But JIP has bought, broken up and sold off other companies in the past.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Just so people know, Sony cameras are no longer a division of Sony. Sony spun them off from the company as a separate camera company wholly owned by Sony. Why would Sony do so? The camera industry has shrunk due to smart phones. This allows Sony cameras to compete in the industry without affecting Sony Corporation and its divisions. This allows the Sony camera company to sink or swim on its own. But if the industry should become a very small niche market and the camera company falter, it will have no effect on Sony Corperation overall.

Olympus cannot quite do the same thing because of their financial fiasco four years ago. The camera division was doing well this year but could not get proper financing. In comes JIP with financing, but at a cost. This is an unusual "marriage". OM is in the new company's name and, for now, the Olympus name will remain on the cameras and will still follow the build map set out by Olympus. Olympus has indicated they intend to remain in the 4/3rds market. 5% is not much presence, but the retention of the name and not total sell off of the camera division says they have a say in what happens in the new company. This will be interesting and it does not look like a total change from the direction the camera division was headed yet. If they come up with newer sensors and develop their video presence, OM Digital Solutions Corporation will more than likely be one of the survivors of the shrinking camera industry.

Like I was saying, it is going to be interesting to see how the future unfolds.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

My observation is that those kinds of companies seldom do anything to advance or improve the entities they buy. Their acquisitions are usually broken down into saleable assets and disposed of to generate cash, ultimately realizing more from the sale of the parts than they expended by buying the whole. It’s kinda like someone buying my old car to take it off my hands - they can part it out and probably double their money.

Stan

BebuLamar

What you said is probably true except that sometimes people buy old car to restore it to a much better car.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Let’s hope that is the goal with the Olympus marque. The only Olympus products I’ve owned are film cameras - good performers all. I hope the line survives just to keep more choices out there.

Stan

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

HiFromSusan

There is a world of difference between the Vaio and OM-D. The Vaio had nothing special about it, no cutting-edge technology. It was just another laptop in a laptop world dominated by other makers. Simply put, there was nothing about Vaio that made the investment worthwhile.

Not so with the OM-D cameras, which has top-notch technology that resulted in cameras with many excellent features, none of which were included in Nikon, Sony, or Canon unless you spent a helluva lot of money. Now The Big Three are now scrambling to include these features in their new mirrorless lines and marketing them as if they are brand-new. Those of us with MFTs (especially the OM-Ds) are laughing out loud, because we've had things like IBIS and superb color technology for years -- and all of it built into sturdy, lightweight bodies and lenses. It will take years for the Bit Three to catch up -- IF they survive the diminishing stand-alone camera market.

In any event, this is the technology that JIP bought when they bought Olympus. They are wise to keep on the employees and give a small amount of ownership to Olympus, just so they can pick their brains.

Canisdirus

So you are interested in buying my bridge...
Oly went...broke...
JIP bought them on the cheap...
JIP isn't a tech company... they are a commodity company.
The Vaio was made with high-quality parts...JIP changed all that.
Notice the pattern...the mission of JIP is profit.
Oly has no current road to profit. Things are not going to be done the same way.
And no...it won't become better...

Will Oly ever tell you this? Of course not. Why would they.

I'll throw in a tugboat ...

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Olympus is not broke. Its medical divisions are doing well. The overall corporate finances were hurt by the fraud they perpetrated four years ago. The camera industry overall is hurting. This is why Sony devested the camera division as a division. The first half of this year Olympus and Sony were selling better, per units, than Canon and Nikon. Even as well as they were selling, the moving of the factory to Vietnam was still causing a financial drain on the company's money. Then the pandemic cause an even more financial drain on the whole industry. And because of smartphones, it will never go back to the way it was. Sony and Olympus have found a way to help their financial hurt. It was more costly for Olympus though in selling off 95% of their ownership. Will Olympus sell out their 5% down the road and the name Olympus disappear from the camera world except for used cameras? It is definitely a possibility, but not a probability at this time.

Canisdirus

You are in a dream world.
Olympus is no longer...Olympus..period. No one cares about their medical divisions. This is about their photography. It's great that their med division is doing well...but it's a moot point.
JIP owns the camera division now.
Sony and Olympus are not in the same league. Sony is doing remarkably well with its camera division.

Olympus as everyone knows it ... is gone. Gone. 5%? That's only so JIP can keep the name for perception only. It doesn't matter what Oly does with their 5%...they don't have a vote anymore on how things are done.

The only question is what JIP will do. I don't know...but it won't be investing more money into a failing format. Video is the only path for a small sensor today.
Smartphones pushed them right out of street photography, and they had nowhere to go. They tried going long...but the sensor was never intended for that, and simply cannot compete with the other sensor formats. The penalty is simply too high...as were the price of their lenses...at least relative to the performance.
M43 was a hot item...years ago.
Stay with it if you want to. I'm sure there will be a lot of glass out there for awhile at a discount.

Now if JIP came out with camcorders that could attach existing OLY lenses...that might be something.
That would be my guess...camcorders.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Again, Sony no longer has a camera division. Sony owns a camera company. It sinks or swims on its own. It can ask Sony Corporation for financing if needed, but Sony Corporation has a different obligation to that company because they are no longer a division. Yes, Sony's camera company is doing well for the economic times. But now OM Digital Solutions Corporation may have a chance with JIPs money and business sense and Olympus' technology.