Will Nikon be forced to sell their imaging business?

[editor]

There's been rumours circulating for ages that Nikon might be going the same way as Olympus (or worse). They reported a historic $720M loss this year, partly because they were so slow to switch to mirrorless (unlike Sony who have been doing really well)

Toyokeizai claims that Nikon might become the new Olympus… – 43 Rumors

www.43rumors.com

 

[Nikkormat]

It would be a shame; I've been a Nikon devotee since my first SLR (Nikkormat FTn) at fifteen. I still use Nikon 35mm SLRs - F2AS, F3HP and Nikkormat FT2 - and a D700 for digital. It has to be said though, they have lagged behind in some ways, and have a quite poor reputation for customer service among professionals. I like the D700, but all I have ever really wanted in a digital camera is something close to an F3, and the DF was not that. It seems that aside from a leap forward with the D1, they have never recovered from Canon launching the EOS 1 in 1989.

 

[Nikkormat]

And while I like that they continued doing some weird and wonderful stuff with film cameras quite late in the day - the S3 and SP special edition rangefinders, the FM3A, even the F6 - surely the resources would have been better spent on digital innovations.

 

[weltweit]

As a Nikon user I hope they manage to survive as they are, they are certainly launching a lot of new bodies and lenses at the moment so it would seem they don't want to exit without a fight. If it will be enough only time will tell.

However, though I am a Nikon user, I don't really help their business because out of 9 bits of kit that I have owned only one lens was bought new from Nikon. The rest was all bought used (or from other manufacturers) so did not benefit Nikon's coffers. I wonder how many users are new buyers and how many like me buy a lot of their gear used and thus don't directly help the factory?

 

[editor]

This doesn't look good:

Nikon is set to cease operations at two of its Japanese factories in March. Those two factories are used to produce interchangeable lenses for its digital cameras, and the remaining domestic operations will be consolidated into its one remaining factory in Otawara City.

Nikon Closes Two Japanese Camera Lens Factories As Market Shrinks

Nikon is set to cease operations at two of its Japanese factories in March. Those two factories are used to produce interchangeable lenses for its digital

petapixel.com

 

[weltweit]

This doesn't look good:
..

The article says Nikon are undergoing cost reductions with an aim of a large gain. I am pretty sure I read a month or two ago that they moved camera production to Thailand, also for cost reasons.

 

[Nikkormat]

I think the vast majority of their cameras and lenses have been made outside Japan for some years now.

 

[mauvais]

Yeah, my D70, D300 and D500 are all made in Thailand.

 

[weltweit]

Perhaps they were just moving the last remaining camera production that they had in Japan, to Thailand?

Does anyone know where the Z series are made? Presumably Thailand also ..