Olympus disclosed the full financial report for the year 2013. You can find plenty of documents here: http://www.olympus-global.com/en/ir/. The most important file is that pdf (download here).
While the good news is that the company as a whole is doing just fine the main problem is their Imaging Business. They failed to achieve their goals and showed a new loss in 2013. Furthermore Olympus now expects a loss for 2014 too. A great analysis has also been posted by Thom Hogan at Sansmirror. Here are a couple of key points:
– Olympus main loss is due the decreasing compact camera market. Also mirrorless system camera sales weren’t as high as expected.
– Olympus plans to reduce investment in the compact camera business (V-line is dead for example). They will focus on high-end mirrorless system cameras.
– Focus is on OMD models rather than PEN
– Olympus expects a small growth in mirrorless camera sales this year.
– Good news: Olympus didn’t make major cuts in Research and Development. It means they keep pushing MFT! Olympus also says that resources from the compact camera division will be used for the MFT system development.
– Olympus wants to streamline their sales line too (more direct sales and focus on cities).
So it’s not a surprise that we will get one new PEN “Only” (the E-Pl7). And I expect some high end MFT products at Photokina.
Here is the full report:
128 Responses
“Olympus wants to streamline their sales line too (more direct sales and focus on cities).”
What should I imagine under “focus on cities” ?
Maybe improved store fronts in high population areas?
I can’t imagine what other MFT products Olympus will show. A new thing could be a fixed lens camera with a MFT sensor and a nice fixed lens coupled to the sensor.
I agree, fixed lens MFT camera maybe in the Stylus series. Same form factor as E-M10. Lens somewhere in the 35-50mm equivalent range, f/2 or faster. Phase detect AF to match Sony A6000. Just slap the E-M1 EVF on it and it will sell tons.
Doubtful.
If Olympus was smart, they wouldn’t release ANYTHING at Photokina and just use whatever cash they have left and focus on Marketing. There is Zero marketing in the states, and that goes for Panasonic as well.
Also, slashing prices throughout the line is VITAL. M43 is too expensive. SO what you want, but if I have $1500, to $2000 to spend on a system, it won’t be M43, unless it was a GH4.
Which is why I’m waiting on my Fuji 27mm lens. My $1500 went to Fuji and it’s APS-C sensor.
Who cares about states. Now everything is moving to Asia …
The only problem with the Asian market is that a very large percentage of them live in poverty .
Yes, but they are an emerging market. It’s a great long term strategy to have a strong foothold at the start, because it’s easier to stay at the top than to get there.
Say what you want about the states… M43 isn’t making a dent here. However, Fuji and Sony are making moves, gaining mirrorless marketshare, while M43 is steadily losing theirs.
http://newcameranews.com/2014/05/15/sony-reports-third-year-of-losses-shelves-lenses/ 🙂
Good for you.
It’s also bad, how do you cope with the flimsy dials?
Typical Fanboy response. You’re uoset, it know. I would be too, if the company i followed SO blindly is about to drop out of making cameras.
Remember, most analysts say around two major players will drop from making cameras. Olympus just took the lead for one of them.
Relax, a lot of water has to flow before I am seen with M43 “equipment”.
It’s months you’re waiting for that Fuji, and still you haven’t received it. Where did you buy it? Just curious.
Adorama. They have it in stock, but I’m waiting on the 27mm. I reserved it with the half off discount.
They will probably show the 7-14 2.8 and 40-150 2.8 Pro lens as a prototype. Sadly, the 7-14 has no filter thread again which would be an outstanding feature in the competition especially useful and seeked by landscape photographers…..nd filter, cpl etc……
Also they have to show a successor of the omd em-5 ….2 1/2 Years on the market……..em-6……
Regards
There are cheap after market souloutions to add filters to the Panasonic 7-14 so hardly a deal breaker. What they have to do is improve things where it matters better still image quality and urgently betetr video quality.
Ultra wides and filters don’ t really work that well. That might be the reason for om-missing the filter thread.
You should use bigger squared filters on ultrawide lenses. Even on MZuiko12mm you have to pay attention when mounting a threaded filter.
As I wrote below (and also as anon wrote) there are DIY videos on the web that explain how to mount bigger squared filters on Panasonic 7-14mm. (I will sell it and buy the faster MZuiko version. I think I’ll skip the 40-150mm though)
I think cameras have reached a good level of performance, perhaps the limit of what a 16mp can offer, and we’re going to see a new “jump” in IQ with next gen of sensors, let them be hybrid, organic or stacked. These are the cameras I’m waiting with curiosity. But not holding my breath. And in the meanwhile I’ll keep enjoying taking photos 🙂 Regards!
Unless they can make the lens really small I don’t see the point of such a camera. a smaller xz-3 with a slightly bigger sensor might be nice to replace my aging cannon s90.
That new Canon fixed lens camera has a larger sensor than the MFT so, I think its possible to make a pretty compact camera with a nice lens and an MFT sensor on it. It won’t be as small as the the new Sony, but it’ll take better photos in low light and give you some control over DoF.
Really? You are so good.
Been thinking hard huh?
A slightly bigger sensor is not necessary but it would differentiate it from other small compacts such rx100. A lens coupled with the sensor would allow also a silent leaf shutter. An EVF from Em1 would be great on a small allrounded camera like this. And the 5 axis IBIS would be a plus.
Sounds like a good idea to focus on the OMD, and they will need all that extra R&D money from the compact camera division. I hated to say it, but Panasonic’s innovation is really starting to make Olympus look stale and kind of boring. Maybe that recent focusing patent will bear fruit. They need something big… Panasonic is on track to have organic sensors next year!
If Olympus and Panasonic deside to leave the low end of mFT. Is there honestly a big enough market for the pricey high end mFT. £1300 bodies and £1300 portrait lens .
> Panasonic is on track to have organic sensors next year!
Source of the information?
> Olympus look stale and kind of boring.
Their inability to produce GX7-style and G-style cameras for many years is indeed appalling. Still, they have managed finally to release the E-M10.
The design of the GX-7 is awefull imho. They tried to create a retro look that doesn’t look retro. The E-P5 does and aso deliver. It looks much better and also performs better with it’s incredible IBIS.
You ought to try using the GX7. The HD video on the GX7 far outshines Olympus.
I simply do not like the ergonomics of the Olympus.
GX7 looks quirky, but fits the hand right in.
I was a fan of the E-M5 till the moment I actually shot with it. It was nice in the shop. But in the field, the poor ergonomics and grip (even with the battery grip) are simply too distracting. It just refuses to sit in the hand.
Larger grip on GX7 is just the right size. Larger body also gives more space for less cramped button layout.
Too late. I was holding on to my e-m1 in hopes that they would tap into their video potential. Sold it and got two gh4’s. I may re-visit them if/when they evolve into a forward thinking company and do away with the stubborn old-schopl Japanese business practices.
Hahaha, ROTFLMFAOPIMP.
You sound like a ignorant layman. Olympus has made more innovative steps that Panasonic in the camera business.
To name a few:
Fast film wind (the pickpocket camera), Free light value metering(the metering read from a window between aperture ring and shutter ring), OTF (off the film) metering and flash, halfframe PEN, worlds first programmable shutter (EE), PEN F, single action frame advance, OM system (worlds smallest professional camera’s), multispot metering, worlds first weatherproof fully automatic compact camera (1986), switchable panorama mode, SSWF (super sonic wave filter), Liveview in DSLR, etc.
Hahaha, LOL you sound like a classical waste of space.
Even accelerating losses, it seems. The problem is, the world is too backwards for M43, all those brainless consumers are still convinced that larger sensors are better.
One solution is more marketing, more lies, until the whole M43 con dies of overhyping and underdelivering.
One other solution is, cut those damn prices already!
Oh SD, you sure do like calling out ‘lies’. One of these days you really do need to share some of them because we have no idea what you’re ranting about. Honest.
Dear fairy, it’s always a pleasure to read your ideas. Keep it up.
Go and tell the execs at PanOly, they’d rather die than cut prices. Their bonuses must be at stake.
Few thoughts:
1, Olympus medical business is incredible, 23% margin is really strong. I guess that’s a good thing because they can afford to keep their image division for a while. With the increasing healthcare expenses incurred by older Western population, they will be fine for now.
2, Japanese sales have tanked for the last three years so it is clear that the loss is from oversea (see the report). Therefore to me, all the reductions seem good beside the sale channel consolidation. I think they should spend more on that to get their products to customers more quickly, especially in Europe. Having lived both in the States and in UK, I observe that Olympus UK is more frequently out of stock in the UK. On the other hand, Olympus products should be more affordable. Economic expansion and artificially lower Yen will help this big time.
3, Looking at their financial statement, returns on equity is good but cash flow from operating has been on a declining trend, not sure how they book sale and cost internally. Long and short term debts are constant and reasonable, so that’s good for them.
4, Their stock price has quadrupled since 2012 low while both Sony and Panasonic stocks have tanked for the last few years. So from a financial point of view, having access to medical business will ensure Olympus image division’s survival much better than both Sony and Panasonic whose over-reliance on digital products are really bad.
Btw next time they should play with their accounting a bit more, especially with their expenses. Showing this much loss is not favorable for potential investors.
LOL! Of course their stock price has gone up dramatically. They are emerging from a massive financial scandal. I hate to say it, but their camera division will continue to hemorrhage money until they actually innovate. Continuing to churn out pretty but run of the mill cameras with poor quality control will not turn things around.
Yes true that they come from a bad point, but so what? Their share price is still higher than their pre-2012 price and the trend suggests a strong and consistent confidence in the company. Had they been a totally terrible company, their capital market access will crash right after the scandal. If you want to look at it more deeply, their fundamental ratios are really strong.
Panasonic and Sony has exhibited a consistent negative stock returns for the past few years. Their stagnant stock price sooner or later will have profound impact on their operations.
Innovation is different from profitability.
1, Olympus medical business is incredible, 23% margin is
really strong. I guess that’s a good thing because they can afford to keep
their image division for a while. With the increasing healthcare expenses
incurred by older Western population, they will be fine for now.
The imaging divisions
losses have been propped up by the medical division for several years,
stretching back to FT not just a “while” ,
2, Japanese sales have tanked for the last three years so it
is clear that the loss is from oversea (see the report). Therefore to me, all
the reductions seem good beside the sale channel consolidation. I think they
should spend more on that to get their products to customers more quickly,
especially in Europe. Having lived both in the States and in UK, I observe that
Olympus UK is more frequently out of stock in the UK. On the other hand,
Olympus products should be more affordable. Economic expansion and artificially
lower Yen will help this big time.
Mirrorless sales in Japan grew by 8% last year meanwhile
DSLR sales grew by 42%. Outside Japan mirrorless sales overall were down 23%
DSLRs were down 19%. Out of stock does not necessarily mean they are selling
out, more likely it is that demand is too low to hold any extra stock. In
Europe as a whole mirrorless [all brands / formats} account for only 13% of the
market
http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-2013_e.pdf
3, Looking at their financial statement, returns on equity
is good but cash flow from operating has been on a declining trend, not sure
how they book sale and cost internally. Long and short term debts are constant
and reasonable, so that’s good for them.
If you look at the imaging division the results are very
poor , which I suppose is better than the dreadful it has been.
4, Their stock price has quadrupled since 2012 low while
both Sony and Panasonic stocks have tanked for the last few years. So from a
financial point of view, having access to medical business will ensure Olympus
image division’s survival much better than both Sony and Panasonic whose
over-reliance on digital products are really bad.
They suffered from a massive fraud that temporarily crashed
the stock price .Obviously the numbers recovered
1, I never said they didn’t before but simply stated that they can continue to do so.
2, Look at sales break down for Japan in the report, around 200 million for the past three years.
3, Yes I am aware of that, but their overall financial statement are really good for companies of this type.
4, Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that investors have confidence back in the business. Normally companies will just go dead or private after pulling off stunts like that. More importantly, this is because their fundamentals are good and not just another trading scheme.
Also the number is even higher than pre-crisis while Pana and Sony stocks have tanked since forever. In fact, Olympus has always outperformed both Panasonic and Sony after 2000 crash.
Let’s start with the stock: it’s gone up for a couple of reasons. First, it was dramatically down after the fraud. Second, the Medical side of Olympus shows clear profit and growth.
But that’s actually bad news for the camera side of the company. There’s growing demand from shareholders to jettison the camera stuff because it is essentially a drain on all that profit and growth with no end in sight. This is the same problem that Sony faced with TVs and PCs: negative results were draining positive results elsewhere in the company.
Things are complicated by the fact that Olympus is still diluting stockholders, too. It’s likely that there’s another round of dilution coming, so that plus negative results in cameras are big drags the shareholders don’t want.
It was interesting to hear a slight change in Sasa-san’s usual defense of the camera group at the annual meeting. Previously, he was staunchly defending keeping the group. Now he seems to have moved more towards an agnostic position.
Fair, you know much more about the photography information than I do and it’s seem clear that shareholders will have some words about its loss. May I ask what is the consensus now over there?
Yet about that dilution, money is cheap in Japan right now and everyone is doing it, not just Olympus. You also want to count in foreign investors who will want a piece of that medical cake any time. Secondly, if you dare to touch equity base consistently without getting punished (as shown by the increasing trend of Olympus), then your business must be fundamentally strong. If Olympus is to gain more international exposure in anyway, outside investment is a good start. I personally don’t see a problems with that.
The interesting thing was how many direct challenge questions Olympus got at the shareholders meeting about what they are going to do about the Imaging group. Direct questioning like that is a bit unheard of in Japan.
Personally, I think Olympus is trying hard to keep the camera group going, but they just aren’t finding enough traction. Everything for over two years has been a quarterly revision downwards. Today an Olympus executive in Tokyo was quoted as saying the E-M1 sales are disappointing, but that they believe the E-M10 will more than make up the slack.
My take on that is that it’s more wishful thinking. The E-M10 has price going for it, but the delay in delivering it means most of the buzz about it is gone in the market. So by the time they actually get those delayed units out to the subsidiaries, it will be another tough slog against whatever new cameras the other companies are introducing. Moreover, there are still lots of E-M5’s in stock around the world, so any E-M10 sale probably means that the E-M5/M1 are less likely to sell. In other words, Olympus is competing with themselves, and undercutting their prices while doing so.
What do you think Olympus will eventually do in the long term? Diversify it’s imaging division (with cameras and/or bodies in other mounts) or get rid of it?
I seriously wish that they still Sigma’s thunder in the mirrorless world as being THE third party option for lenses.
Hard to say. The consensus amongst all the analysts I know that follow them is that the coming year will be no better than the past one. No one thinks Olympus will deliver more than 500k m4/3 units. I personally don’t believe a volume that low is sustainable as a separate unit; they’d have to cut staff and infrastructure much more in order not to just keeping running these huge losses. In essence, Olympus has been in stalling mode for quite some time, hoping that something will happen that either makes the market ignore the camera group or makes the camera group gain enough traction to breakeven.
I have a hard time imagining what Olympus can do to improve the situation without significantly cutting staff. The EM-1 was as good as it can possibly get apart form menu and video, which certainly can’t be enough to to boost sales enough to be able to break even. It seems to me that they won’t have a choice but to do something more drastic.
How long do you think before these changes happen, 1-2 years?
“Today an Olympus executive in Tokyo was quoted as saying the E-M1 sales are disappointing […]”
Oh really!? At that price, who might have guessed that the camera would have a very limited appeal?!
I bought my E-620 for 450€ new. Yes, the lenses are very nice. (I miss you, 12-60!!) But no, I’m not going to fork 3 times that money just for the privilege.
“from a
financial point of view, having access to medical business will ensure Olympus
image division’s survival…”
Why would a profit-making concern answerable to shareholders be just fine with a money-losing line as long as other segments are profitable? Wouldn’t shareholders want the company to be even MORE profitable by cutting money losers?
Diversification is good for business. Moreover, a company keeps a department sometimes for its image and not necessary for its profit.
It is a bit ironic referencing Thom, considering the venomous abuse from Olympus
fanboys he received. Wonder what excuse they will use now that his prediction about the overly optimistic/ lies future sales projections from Olympus [ not ,that it is unusual they have
been making wild claims for years and never met a single goal].
Despite what the entrenched fanboys think mirrorless peaked in late 2012 and has been treading
water ever since. The full year’s sales numbers for 2013 showed that while both
DSLR and mirrorless sales contracted, mirrorless actually fell a little more.
While 30% of the Japanese mirrorless market sounds impressive it equates to 11%
of the total interchangeable lens market and this is in Japan by far the best
country for mirrorless sales. Meantime Canon has 31% of the overall interchangeable
market in Japan and Nikon with 26% of the market .Outside Japan the situation
for mirrorless in the majority of the world is simply not moving forward.
http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-2013_e.pdf
Maybe, but I’ll be honest. It’s been a long long time since I’ve seen the level of excitement about a camera that I’m seeing about the GH4. Especially among pros. If Panasonic continues to be creative and innovative like they have been lately, and if they stay focused on their hybrid strategy, I think we will see a huge bump in Panasonic’s market share. Loads of people are selling their 5D3s, EM1s, (just fill in the blank really) to move to GH4s. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this kind of huge migration from DSLR to m43 (or any mirrorless).
The only people interetsed in the GH4 are those for whome video makes up a big part of their shooting. We hhave heard all the people leaving DSLR’s in droves nonsense before meantime DSLRs still hugely dominate the market [80% + ] in last years data. Panasonics share of even the mirrorless market has fallen dramatically over time and I have serious doubts if the GH4 will change this. The same hype was around with the GH3.
Please, enough with that nonsense. Only a small portion of the video guys will be switching, at best. We have seen that hype already, worn the t-shirt, taken it off… Not even you believe that hype.
The problem with judging how a company is doing based upon “excitement” is that it doesn’t reflect actual sales. While Panasonic will sell more GH4’s than they did GH3’s, one fairly expensive camera alone is not enough to turn around sales for an entire camera company. The GM1 is much more important to Panasonic’s overall market share than the GH4.
FWIW, I see virtually no one selling an E-M1 to buy a GH4; the E-M1 catered to a different type of customer. Note also that the video market–which is the primary one excited by the GH4–is smaller than the still market, by an order of magnitude.
And, unfortunately, the GM1 like the PEN line, is too expensive for the mass market.
A company can not rely on sales to professionals to survive. It needs to sell to the masses in order to do and that just isn’t happening. The state of the camera industry is in a world of hurt right now. I could care less if a format survives or not. It will stink if that happens but the show will march on. There will be other choices., I only feel for the people that need to feed their families and make a living working for these companies. They are the ones that are really impacted if this company fails.
Culling the camera lineup makes sense.
At this point, one PEN seems like enough, especially after the ludicrously priced EP5.
I’d really like to see a M4/3 Tough camera, but that seems pretty doubtful.
I think that the E-P5 is the best camera in their line-up.
I am just a photographer….I really have no opinion about all of this business info.
Its all out of my control anyway.
Agree with you. The E-P5 is an amazing camera. For my use the best in their line up.
Make two OMD’s; M1 ‘pro’ and M10 enthusiast. Shrink the E-PM2 to make it a competitor with the GM1 & merge the E-PL & E-P lines.
But add a built-in EVF to the high-end camera.
Omitting an in-built EVF from the EP5 was a huge misstep on Oly’s part.
Look at Fuji, Sony and… oh yeah… the GX7.
What differentiates it from the M10 other than styling at that point?
Going from a GH2 to a GX7, I must say, that it’s great having a more streamlined camera body with a built-in EVF, especially when I use it as an everyday thing. I carry it more that my GH2. That’s a good thing.
I have a GX1 and dislike the add-on EVF. It’s awkward and gets in the way. The clip-on EVF is a reason why I did NOT get a GF1 or a PEN when I got into M4/3.
In that case all that would distinguish the M10 is the body, so they’d need to ditch it and go all PEN style except for the M1. As much as I love my M10, concentrating on the rangefinder type body may be the only way Oly & Panasonic can differentiate themselves from the big boys.
Now if only Panasonic would introduce the black GM1 to the US so I can replace my GX1…
I’m selling my GX1 to fund a GM1, too.
To get a black one, I’ll buy in Canada again, like I did for my GX7. I used Aden Camera. My credit card has an extended warranty, so I’m not worried.
http://www.adencamera.com/product-overviewer.asp?ProdID=4595&Category=6
Thanks for the tip Jeff. Black is on sale right now with free shipping to the US.
Thanks loser for your suggestion, the way down to bankruptcy is now paved.
Crass and unoriginal comment even by your standards, SD. At least you’re spelling is improving, right ‘looser’? 🙂
“You’re” spelling? Do not speak with your mouth full, yuck! And full of that stuff, yeurgh.
Because you type and speak at the same time, poor twt.
This is a long-time m43 troll from the US, what do you expect? Some sort of intellectual? LOL
SD, where did ‘Samuel’ go? You not only registered that name, but actually followed me for a short time (didn’t think I’d notice, did you?).
Don’t forget to vote up all your comments. You’re slipping buddy.
An American education… But they are not all that thick, believe me.
LOL. You finally caught me SD. But I think you’re still down 3-1, so keep working at it. The funny thing is I changed it from ‘your’. That’s what happens when you’re typing at 6 AM.
Your homophobic slurs really are adolescent though.
Whenever you post, I cannot help thinking of that filthy mouth and what you do with it.
SD, it finally occurred to me, all this stuff you write isn’t homophobic, it’s homoerotic.
Rather than yell at you, I’ve taken the time to correct your name calling and ‘bad’ behavior and ‘bad’ language (and spelling) and you keep coming back for more. It’s like you can’t get enough.
I’m flattered that you can’t help but think of me, but I don’t swing your way and trolling for it on a public forum is inappropriate and gross.
Seriously, you’ve got to zip it up or you’re going to get banned.
Yuck clean that mouth of yours yuck. How many have you done today already? Do you also shoot your filthy hobby with that petty sensor?
SD, I know you consider yourself a ‘sadist’ and ‘bully’, but do you realize that you’re now at the point of using a camera discussion website to wank?
You know it’s all ages here, right?
Just keep 2-3 models and get rid of the rest. Also, slash the prices to sell the inventory instead of storing them for 3 years and then trying to dump them for 1/3rd the price.
Quick tips for Olympus:
– movie mode for Europe with 28-35 Mbps, 1080p is enough with real zero sharpening
– save our time introducing .dng raw file option
– firmware for XZ-2 introducing S-curve
– XZ2 tough-ED
– faster sdxc interface
– AIF (all in focus); new af mode based on hyperfocals,
– introduce parrallel interface VERY SIMPLE ONE, activated automatically if user selects jpg-
L,
– UniWB mode, automatically set if user selects .dng raw file option,
– 9mm pancake,
– 100mm + macro
RIP Teeny Tiny Four Thirds – a tail of pure fail. (FYI Sony is turning in a profit on their camera business.)
SD, you’re a poet and didn’t know it! (Actually it’s ‘tale’ not ‘tail’ but we’ll keep that between you and me).
Hey how’s your teenier tinier Nikon 1 doing? Cheers.
According to Nikon’s latest report, Nikon 1 is number two in the world mirrorless market, pulling it ahead of micro 4/3. That’s how it’s doing.
Fantastic. So why are you here then?
We are trying to set things straight. If we leave the forum to you, the consumers might get a wrong bias and actually buy M43.
SD, I do enjoy the fact that when you say ‘we’ you mean you and all your screen names, and when you say ‘set things straight’ you mean complain and rant and name call without actually contributing in any positive way.
PS, Take a deep breath before you click on Marco’s link below. It’s really funny, but it’s going to make you mad. Remember, deep breath…
Chill kiddo, nobody cares what you blurt out.
Obviously you do. Sorry, all of you do 🙂
PS – ‘Kiddo’ ? How old are you? My grandma used to say that.
🙂 http://newcameranews.com/2014/05/14/nikon-releases-firmware-update-for-four-people/
LOL!
They’re doing better than that when pitted against all the mirror-less cameras that Nikon make–they’re number 1.
LOL why am I enjoying this?
Because you and ‘Sony Drake’ are the same person, silly boy.
This is what Sony is doing 🙂 http://newcameranews.com/2014/05/15/sony-reports-third-year-of-losses-shelves-lenses/
Seriously? Is this an amateur business analysing site or a camera rumour site? The amount of totally ignorant and know nothing comments are astounding. Doesn’t anybody here use their gear for taking pictures? 99% of all consumers does not know and does not care about the finical state of Olympus, or Fuji, or Sony. They just buy a camera because the want to take pictures and chose the one they think will suit them best, hopefully after researching and reading up on review sites. Here it feels like people make up their mind regarding one camera or the other because of some personal preference, or just because, and then stick to it no matter what, bashing all other cameras, camera brands and the users of said camera brands. Mature…
It’s a contest you know, us against them. We will defend our brand forever, in good times and in bad times. Our brand is our religion. Insult our brand and we will start a war.
But anyway, yes, sure I would regret to see them cancel their camera division, but they may not have the plan to do so just yet. Even if they do, whenever that may be, I can still take pictures as long as my camera lasts. And after that I would still wonder if I should hurry to sell what’s left of my equipment. It might be a real nice match for a future camera from one brand or another. Or a future camera comes along to replace everything in one generous swipe of a screen. So what.
Oh no, wait, my religion, oh well, whatever.
Thinking that a consumer spending a significant sum on a camera (and when we’re talking 4/3 cameras, that IS a significant sum) would prefer his vendor be around for a few more years, since support, parts availability, warrant work, and possibly future accessory or lens purchases may just be a concern.
Unless of course the current product is sold at a nice discount to account for the risk the consumer may be taking on.
Is there really a need for these companies to update a camera every year? It would make much more sense if they went to a two year update cycle. It would save them money for manufacturing products that will not sell and allow buyers to feel like they are getting something special because companies will no longer hold back on features when they release a product. Right now companies will release a product and leave out an obvious feature just so they have something to add next year. Consumers have caught on and electronic sales are beginning to suffer as consumers continuously wait for what will come “next year”.
I’m not surprised that an important part of the loss is from oversea, in Europe the m43 bodies and lenses are priced too high, there are also no special cashback and rebate actions like e.g. Sony, Canon and Nikon offer regularly.
How probable it is that one of the new products is going to be the successor of EM-5?
There is not a lot of talk about it though its been almost three years since its introduction. Now this is something i am really waiting for.
Me 2.
Sorry folks, but I love that site and since I linked Sony and Nikon results, just for par condicio…
http://newcameranews.com/2014/05/19/olympus-blames-poor-financials-on-accounting-anomaly-again/
The 2x font factor, haha!
But there are rumors about an Elvetica 12 font… Pure genius! 🙂
Loved their take on the revolutionary Leica T.
http://newcameranews.com/2014/05/14/one-week-with-leica-t/
Let this toy format die already.
Desperately trying to justify the toys you bought? Don’t worry, you can keep them.
My corvette Z06 is a toy and so is M43. Both are stealthy, slim, mean and lean.
Focus resources on high-margin mirrorless….. Is that business speak for bend over here it comes?
Would be sad to see Olympus go down.
The business side is just not run well.
Time to stop all PEN models and also the E-Px model. Concentrate on the 3 OM-D models. The E-P5 flop proved it is not worthwhile squeezing it between the OM-Ds and the cheaper compacts, including the E-M10. Same for the E-PM2, which is eaten up by the smartphones, and struggling to sell even when reduced to $199 as done recently. The E-PL7 may do a little better, but the writing is on the wall. Most people find it too close to the E-M10, which also has a nice EVF and flash, not to mention the Sony RX100 III, which looks like the only worthwhile compact that can be profitable as portables and smartphone cameras get better and better. So, just make the hard decision and do only OM-D models and concentrate on making them competitive and profitable. Even OM-D is feeling pressure now from other models from other makers that are catching up everyday.
Where is IDidntKnowDidyou whatever his name was? Where is he now? 🙂
LOL! Good point!
I will say I know nothing about corporate businesses.
I do know, that much to my chagrin most people consider their phone to also be their camera. To young people it “is” their camera.
This is a fact. It will only increase as the cameras in the phones get better and better.
I think that only a handful of professional camera manufacturers are going to survive that trend, and they will be greatly downsized.
Stand back…isn’t it obvious?
I certainly am not happy about it.
It was coming, sooner or later: price / performance problems are just too big.
Would rather use a film camera than this small sensor junk
Made a mistake…let me fix that for you….”Would rather use a Large Format 20×24 slide film camera than this small sensor junk”….your welcome.
Girlie bop is angry. Girlie bop is scrambling for arguments. Girlie bop forgets that she is inferior and must shut it.
Oh SD. The self proclaimed sadist and bully reduced to barking orders into the ether. You’ve become the online Barney Fife.
I have nothing against those like you, as long as they keep quiet about it, but you blow your trumpet instead (lol). You need to learn what girlies may say and what not. No doubt, you will, sooner or later.
At least you’ve toned down your fantasies about me. Small victories.
Remember GirlieBop, you need to keep it quiet, and this is not quiet enough. Do you get it, little pervo? Quiet is the word… It’s plain English. Promise you will try. It’s about not disgusting everyone else.
Little pervo wishes superior had fantasies about her… LOL
You bite pillows AND you are boring…
LOL SD, your X-rated rants have been deleted! They were crass & misdirected, but I still take your man-crush as a complement buddy.
You may actually have to discuss the site topic (M43, remember?). Tough week for you pal, but I’m here to help. Cheers.
Oh SD, first your man-crush slips out (misdirected, but I still take it as a complement) and now your posts are being deleted by the admin?
Rough week pal, but I’m here to help.
How about finishing up the week with a lucid comment that actually has something to do with the site?
Remember, lucid. Seeya ’round buddy.