Samsung to discontinue its camera sector and focus on appliances and smartphones

Kisaha wrote:

The reason they are quitting is because they weren't making much money (if any - rumours say the camera division was basically worth nothing). NX products are slowly disappearing from stores and there's no sign that any cameras or lenses are still being produced.

The reason they haven't announced anything is that they're hoping to sell off the remaining stock slowly at retail prices, rather than having to dump it all at heavy discounts in a firesale. I don't see any reason to believe that there's more to the story than that. Yes, there have been discounts here and there, but certainly not very substantial ones with much stock.

To say that the "camera divison worths nothing" is a false statement. Camera R & D, sensors and lens departments must cost more than the whole of some small camera manufacturers.

Except Sony, and maybe Panasonic/Canon to a degree, all the rest would be willing to sell their souls for Samsumg resources, technology and innovation.

Most people underestimate the importance, and huge achievement of Samsung, producing almost everything, in-house.

Some sources leak that they already have a full frame sensor ready for mass production (old news of course, as they won't produce anything relative any time soon), but Samsung being Samsung, they prefer to absorb the retail loss than selling anything at all.

The rumour was that the camera division (or subdivision of the cellphone division?) was listed as having zero value on Samsung's balance sheet. Shoot the messenger of that morsel of info if you want; I don't remember who it was. And frankly, if Samsung doesn't want to sell their sensor/lens tech to a competitor and can't find any way to make cameras using them, well then it is basically worthless to us and not much more than a whole lot of sunk costs to them.

I'll believe this fairy tale about a full frame sensor when it happens.