Sometimes I think news agency are much worse in writing rumors than I do in my very amateurish way here on 43rumors. Every couple of weeks new agreement rumors are spreading through the world and getting posted on all newspaper from The New York Times down to my little local newspaper read by 2,000 farmers. Imagine if I would post a different GH3 rumor every two weeks…you would want my scalp 🙂
Anyway, I will report this news but as you have learned you have to take these “rumors” as they are…just rumors. Nikkei “reports that Olympus is in final talks with Sony to get a roughly 50 billion yen capital injection in return for a stake”. Olympus of course denied the existence of such an agreement.
Sony is a company in a very deep crisis and I really don’t know if that would be a good deal for Olympus. Let’s see, I still think Olympus is trying to find a way to avoid any partnership with other electronic giants like Sony, Panasonic or Fuji.
28 Responses
I just can’t resist…….. First!
i was reading this yesterday fron an italian financial magazine..sony is going to buy 15% of oly for 50billions yen
http://www.primaonline.it/2012/06/22/107603/sony-principale-candidata-per-partnerhip-con-olympus/
This is an FT0 rating. The story said Sony, Oly, and Panny all had losses. So, if my arithmetic is correct, 0+0+0=0. Each company has to figure out on their own how to get out of their entanglements. Here’s an idea: create stellar products by listening to users and sell large quantities at low prices.
@ marsupial2go
“create stellar products by listening to users and sell large quantities at low prices”
Creating “stellar” products costs stellar dollars. You want the best then you have to pay what it costs.
I wonder whether all these false rumors (soon dismissed by Olympus or the candidates) are a sign that Olympus wants to surpass the crisis by itself while remaining independent,, or whether they are only striving to find the miraculous investor they need ? Given the difficult financial situation of both Sony and Panasonic finding investors for Olympus may not be that easy.
The sensor of OMD is Sony….and Sony lose a lot of money… Oly in medical field has very good margin.
So for Sony is a good thing…and also for oly
Sony not produce 4-3 sensor, and OM-D sensor is a new Panasonic sensor PUUUH. For too many time.
Sony just invested 800.000 euros in their sensor department!! More than welcome!!
800.000 euros??? That is *nothing* — so little that it hardly counts as an investment at all. Sufficient to pay the salary of … 5 people (including office space, etc) for one year?? But maybe the number is 8 million euros? Still hardly an investment. Or maybe 80 million euros? Or what?
I think it is 800 million: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Sony-investiert-in-Produktion-von-neuen-CMOS-Sensoren-1624227.html
An investment in Oly would fit ti Sony’s new strategy…
Missed 3 x 000 there good i’m not in finance!!
A Sony/Olympus tie up seems more credible to me, at least for their camera arms. Like Murdoch, I believe the OM-D is packing a Sony sensor. They are both great innovators and sharing their technology could only lead to better products.
Olympus needs focus peaking injection from Sony :).
Joking aside, as was many times said here, any cooperation between the two is not likely to affect their mirrorless camera departments.
> Every couple of weeks new agreement rumors are spreading through the world […]
> Olympus of course denied the existence of such an agreement.
Chances are that the talks are taking place and some sort of a deal is in drafting.
But that’s pretty much it: large companies have deals being drafted all the time (often by unsolicited 3rd party financial consultants who hope to snatch a piece of it for themselves).
But considering amount of the rumors, one is for sure – Oly is planning a deal. Nothing would be ever admitted till the very end, since it would affect stock prices: up for Oly, down for any potential partner.
> Imagine if I would post a different GH3 rumor every two weeks…you would want my scalp 🙂
No, we would tell you “Thank You!!!” 😉
When was it last time that you posted FT1 rumor? I can’t even remember it anymore.
May I have to post some of the weird impossible FT1 rumors I get form time to time… 🙂
For the real weird and impossible, use the “FTLOL” rating 🙂
Admin, I understand your apprehension to immediately take this as fact. But in The Verge’s report on this, it comes across as much more than just a rumor. It seems that they are in fact talking, but simply haven’t signed on the dotted line yet. The way the Olympus representative responded to Reuters is a very big sign that they are in fact talking, rather than this just being wild speculation:
“This is not something that we have announced,” the representative told Reuters. “It has not been decided yet.”
Despite speculation here:
1) this has nothing to do with Oly’s camera division;
2) Oly’s debt load is forcing them to find a minority partner–the banks who hold Oly’s debt are insisting on this;
3) While Sony has lost a ton of money they have the funds to invest in Oly;
4) Oly is attractive because of their medical imaging business, which is viewed by Sony as a diversification opportunity;
5) An investment of this size will, at most, buy Sony one or two seats on the board of directors. Thus, Oly’s current BOD will continue to be in charge.
today Olympus denied it on a popular paper here in Japan.
Sony could profit from Olympus glass. Lenses have long been a complaint with NEX users.
It seems rather strange these companies can be in trouble, considering the amount of money I’ve spent on digital cameras, over the last dozen years or so specially with Oly and Pany.
I think a solution might be in the present crop of cameras though, at least partially. Instead of trying to make all sorts of new fangled designs, every year, maybe just sticking with what worked for film for the last fifty to seventy years, which was rangefinders and slr looking bodies. The popularity of cameras like the X100, Xpro1, Nex7 and OMD, might just be an indicator, that old designs are still in vogue.
It seems like the cost of making new bodies every nine months would take it’s toll on any business as far as R&D goes, not to mention raw materials. If they could engineer, a user replaceable sensor, that just pops in and out of the camera bodies, like changing film, then they could just focus on that more, rather than upgrading bodies, every year.
Of coarse they would have to make bodies that were built to last, like film cameras. Maybe they could sell new operating systems, for cameras or more Ram etc, as technology evolves, sort of like the computer companies do, after all, these cameras are just computers with lenses, for the most part. I don’t know, but it sure seems like there should be a way to make a profit.
What gives the best margin, bodies or glass?
glass is usually 11% by market standards
bodies give the best margin, but they have to be popular enough to sell
>If they could engineer, a user replaceable sensor, that just pops in and out of the camera bodies, like changing film, then they could just focus on that more, rather than upgrading bodies, every year.
thats not possible, it comes with associated motherboard, ie the camera
what they have to do is:
* reduce costs
* provide at a price the market can stand
* make products that sell, ie are popular
The Master.
I think Ricoh has a similar idea, it also matches sensor to lens for best cost/benefit. The body could be modular with memory expansion and processor plug in modules to suit all budgets.
A very big drawback though is the trophy round the neck value goes down as it is not immediately seen that it is a top of the line version. Maybe the 100MP version comes with a solid gold neck chain, to solve that.
Rupert Murdoch is going to finance Oly for all it requires.
The single condition is that only the right of the image taken is to be usable.
Alluding to his political leanings?
Well played sir.
This rumor seems to be true and is now also confirmed in some German IT news portal:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Bericht-Sony-beteiligt-sich-an-Olympus-1624687.html