I don't think Olympus has a profit camera segment. Their EVIL cameras sell for low prices too quickly.
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happypoppeye
Senior Member
...from a camera company point of view (which they are much more, I know)
- they are a horribly run company, from the marketing of cameras to the business side with the recent run up in stock price being pretty much entirely contributable to personal investment ...which can be considered a good thing but the word on wall street is that they are still a very badly run company, especially with the recent (or semi recent) departure of the CEO that stole all that money. Right now the most are questioning how Olympus went for so many quarters with no accountant noticing the missing earnings and money, with Olympus pretty denying the fact that there amy be many more people they employ stealing from them. Forget about losing face here (huge in the Japanese culture) ...there is a problem.
- on their "marketing side" ...they have no entry level interchangeable lens camera that "compacters" will upgrade too. The EPM-2 ...I've recommended it to 9 people (soceer mom types) ...every single one of them came back to me saying either it doesn't have a built in flash, or the salesman said their was much better for the price. Every single one of them bought either a Panasonic m43 or Nikon 1 system camera. OK, most people here at DPR know the EPM2 has some great IQ with the OMD sensor and also has IBIS ...moms upgrading from compacts don't know what that means ...thus spending the money, or more, on other products. All simply because there is no built in flash ...sounds really stupid, I know, but it's the truth. On their compacts without RAW, jpeg compression is horrible ...so basically OLY is out for recommendations and is relegated to SLR or higher end users looking for a small or backup body.
Other than that, look all over the net ...OLY is known to have "fiddly" cameras with Canon and NIkon still blowing them away (again, in the upgrader crowd and not necessarily true). Someone looking to upgrade from a compact to an ILC in the m43 system is more likely to go with Panny, especially with the recent prices too.
All in all, they make cameras with great IQ on m43 side, but they have their heads in the cloud business wise. Add ot that the state of the compact and overall camera business these days and it puts them in a tougher position. They deserve to die but they are worth way too much too and will not...
Personally I think they need to clear house, get their heads out of their arses and start looking to compete. Canon has done that, Nikon is ok, Panasonic is big enough to keep competing right now, as is Sony ...and I think Samsung is going to hit it at some point with their phone/camera hybrids which are getting better and better. Oly is just not a company to look too right now.
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Complaints about that on the m43 forum. My EPL5, which Ibought in nov '12 has depreciated by as much as 50 euro...
And in the Oly annualreport they stated that the mirrorless line was profitable but their camera sales were not because of the P&S side of things.
And in the Oly annualreport they stated that the mirrorless line was profitable but their camera sales were not because of the P&S side of things.
Iliah Borg
Forum Pro
"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated"
Wait before you say goodbye.
Wait before you say goodbye.
Mahmoud Mousef
Senior Member
[No message]
According to Olympus' financial documents, their total digital camera sales went from 204,915 (Millions of Yen) in fiscal 2008 to 95,101 (Millions of Yen) in fiscal 2013. That's quite a drop.
Olympus is a thriving medical technology company, so they really don't need a digital camera division, particularly one that loses money every single year.
Olympus is a thriving medical technology company, so they really don't need a digital camera division, particularly one that loses money every single year.
TrapperJohn
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Typical shallow financial piece, looking only at the P&S market, which is dying for everyone.
Olympus was smart enough to plot a different course several years ago. Now, the other makers scramble to follow in their steps. Except for Sony, who has thrown a ton of marketing money at NEX (pity they didn't toss some of that towards lens development), the rest have been somewhat unsuccessful.
Olympus was smart enough to plot a different course several years ago. Now, the other makers scramble to follow in their steps. Except for Sony, who has thrown a ton of marketing money at NEX (pity they didn't toss some of that towards lens development), the rest have been somewhat unsuccessful.
Yes, clearly with respect to P&S.
1- People are using their smart phones or just phones for the cameras See it all the time.
2- These point and shoots are obviously sub-contracted. Look at enough cameras and it seems like there is only company that makes all the battery/memory card compartments! They all look alike and have the flimsy sliding latch. These contractors, I expect, are starting to make their own lines. We see inexpensive point and shoots with acquired brand names like Bell & Howell, GE, etc.
Why Nikon, Canon, Sony, even Fuji compete in this area is beyond me.
1- People are using their smart phones or just phones for the cameras See it all the time.
2- These point and shoots are obviously sub-contracted. Look at enough cameras and it seems like there is only company that makes all the battery/memory card compartments! They all look alike and have the flimsy sliding latch. These contractors, I expect, are starting to make their own lines. We see inexpensive point and shoots with acquired brand names like Bell & Howell, GE, etc.
Why Nikon, Canon, Sony, even Fuji compete in this area is beyond me.
robert1955
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Thom Hogan has an interesting piece on this:http://www.sansmirror.com/newsviews/dont-be-a-yahoo-olympus.html
in which he puts his case that Olympus will likely survie until at least '14.
(usually the OP is very quick in linking to sansmirror, but apparently only when hit suits him)
in which he puts his case that Olympus will likely survie until at least '14.
(usually the OP is very quick in linking to sansmirror, but apparently only when hit suits him)
That describes Oly's imaging strategy
"Unlike 24/7 Wall Street, I don't think Olympus will be withdrawing their brand any time soon. But there definitely is risk there for Olympus to keep pursuing a market that is just drawing resources and money from their main operations with no real end in sight. I doubt that they can sustain repeated market share erosion and monetary losses for very long. Thus, every analyst and m4/3 user is looking closely at Olympus for any signs that they've turned things around in the Imaging Group. So far, no. But neither are there signs that they're about to jettison the group."
It's because Nikon is winning big. And, they can still make money if they have 30% of the market.
"I use the defy gravity term because Nikon has managed to somehow do a few things that no other camera company did in the last year. Take compact cameras. The market itself lost about 20% in unit volume year-to-year, but Nikon went from 17.37m Coolpix to 17.14m Coolpix, barely over a 1% loss in volume. Put another way, they gained market share in a declining and very competitive market, a tough thing to do. The question, of course, is how many of those cameras are actually in customer's hands at this point, and what was the average selling price to manage that task, but Nikon's numbers don't reveal those answers." (May 9)
http://www.bythom.com/
More important, compact sales is a channel to grow DSLR sales. Brand awareness matters.
R
rattymouse
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Hey Genius.....the article I cited states Olympus will disappear in 2014....you know, the same year Thom Hogan says they will last until.
R
rattymouse
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Martin.au
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jkoch2
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Sony shareholders should revolt if management threw money at Olympus for any reason other than the medical division. It makes money. Cameras do not.
Sony may not be making money on cameras, even after cutting back on P&S. There would be little to gain by gambling on some Lazarus turnaround by trying to combine NEX and m4/3 operations into one "happy family." The two compete directly against eachother. Sony does not have any big cushion of profits, anyway. Only the entertainment and financial subsidiaries show any profits. Sony's Plan A for Olympus would probably consist of acquiring the medical division and discontinuing Oly cameras altogether, unless there is money to be made by renting the brand name.
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rattymouse
Guest
Absolutely. Sony tossed 400 million away if they think Olympus cameras are going to help improve Sony in some what.
That has disaster written all over it.
If Olympus doesn't withdraw from the digital camera market until 2015, or 2016, or even 2017, that's not exactly a victory for the company. The long-term end result is the same.
When Olympus withdraws from the US digital camera market, few people will notice. Here, it's a pretty obscure camera brand.
When Olympus withdraws from the US digital camera market, few people will notice. Here, it's a pretty obscure camera brand.
robert1955
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Mr Rodent,
He is reacting to the same article and making a case that it may not work out the yahoo way
He is reacting to the same article and making a case that it may not work out the yahoo way
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