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03-25-2017, 02:19 AM   #1
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Panasonic to dismantle their digital camera business unit

Interesting but sad article in the Nikkei Asian Review:

Panasonic takes out scalpel again as profits falter- Nikkei Asian Review (two pages)

QuoteOriginally posted by Nikkei Asian Review:
Three other businesses units -- digital cameras, private branch exchange telephone systems and optical disk drives -- will be dismantled. Each will be scaled back and placed under the umbrella of other operations, with headcount to be reduced.


03-25-2017, 03:08 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mistral75 Quote
Interesting but sad article in the Nikkei Asian Review:
Interestingly, that decision may well have impacts for Leica too, as Panasonic and Leica seem to collaborate quite a lot on camera electronics and platforms.
03-25-2017, 03:15 AM - 1 Like   #3
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If you launch a swathe of new models every year don't you undermine the value of inventory? Also don't you create a disincentive for anyone but first adopters to buy the latest model? And don't you create so much confusion by a constantly changing range it's impossible to choose what to buy? BTW my 2010 GF2 with G20mm 1.7 still takes brilliant photos.
03-25-2017, 03:17 AM   #4
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It's a shame that the restructuring is necessary, but it may just be what saves Panasonic's digital camera arm. As the market changes and demand falls, it's going to be the smaller, leaner, more agile operations with a narrow range of well-thought-through products that have the best chance of survival. That's why I think Ricoh Imaging is so well positioned right now...

03-25-2017, 04:09 AM   #5
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Digital Cameras is only a small part of this restructuring. I'm sure they will keep Lumix around. I am more interested in their organic cmos research. Will that be the next-gen sensor the industry is waiting for?
03-25-2017, 04:16 AM   #6
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We whine about too few choices, but the bigger companies now are finding out that there are penalties to be offered for providing too many!

Remember what Ford said about the model T? "Any colour, as long as it's black."

If this keeps on happening, then by the time the smoke clears, we will have probably the same number of companies still, but they will all be offering a reduced lineup of camera bodies and suddenly they will have to compete on price and spec, not just on variety and volume. Pentax could be poised for an automatic leap back up the ranks in this case, without even trying much - they just have to keep turning out affordable cameras with good features and the occasional new quirk.

I still don't think they will ever be one of the Big Two again - there are too many cameras already in the world - but they could end up in a far more prominent place than they have hitherto been.
03-25-2017, 04:58 AM   #7
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Great pity as Panasonic offers some excellent micro 4/3 cameras and lenses. Their 100-400mm, a Leitz design, is arguably one of the really great modern zoom lenses regardless of format. Imagine a lens less than one kg in weight, less than 20cm long that covers 200~800mm (35mm FF equivalent) with very good to excellent IQ, even outstanding IQ in the center from 100 to 200mm. A remarkable optical achievement. Makes me break out in LBA irrational rash.

03-25-2017, 05:43 AM   #8
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I considered an Olympus M4/3 body at one point as a compact travel camera, and IIRC Oly and Pana lenses are (or at least were) fully interchangeable. Something like that combined with a zoom from wide to 100mm would have been the ultimate two lens travel kit (maybe stretching to three for a fast normal-FOV prime).
03-25-2017, 06:05 AM   #9
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This is so sad. I thought Olympus would be rhe first to wither on the vine.

Panny make nice cameras, the industry's poorer for the news.

03-25-2017, 06:36 AM   #10
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I have also considered a micro 4/3 kit for travel. My ideal: Pen F, 12-100mm oly (read the reviews - impressively good lens); 100-400 Pana, 7-14 oly, 60mm macro oly. I would wish for Oly to pick up some of Panas Leitz-design lenses, but Oly makes their own so that seems improbable.
03-25-2017, 06:38 AM - 1 Like   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by officiousbystander Quote
If you launch a swathe of new models every year don't you undermine the value of inventory? Also don't you create a disincentive for anyone but first adopters to buy the latest model? And don't you create so much confusion by a constantly changing range it's impossible to choose what to buy? BTW my 2010 GF2 with G20mm 1.7 still takes brilliant photos.
You are totally right!

But the internet has sadly trained everyone that last year's model "sucks" and everyone must buy the newest new shiny object. That forces manufacturers to churn out new models to feed the click-bait machine of internet sites.
03-25-2017, 06:56 AM - 3 Likes   #12
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Did I mis-read the news item? So far as I can tell, all Panasonic is doing is restructuring several business units - one of which is the digital camera business - and merging them into others, with a reduction in head-count. I don't think we need to worry just yet about Panasonic disappearing from the digital photography market.
03-25-2017, 07:33 AM   #13
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They will do the same as Ricoh, combine the Digital business with other business.
Seem Ricoh was ahead of all these guy in doing that already.
03-25-2017, 07:46 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by D1N0 Quote
Digital Cameras is only a small part of this restructuring. I'm sure they will keep Lumix around. I am more interested in their organic cmos research. Will that be the next-gen sensor the industry is waiting for?
The organic sensor seems to be the eggplant that ate Chicago. How many millions have been invested in this technology for absolutely zero practical results. Panasonic and Canon being two companies that have made announcement after announcement about this technology starting years ago, and have nothing to show for it.

At this point, organic sensors have become the vapourware of the camera industry. "Don't sell off all those cheap Canon lenses we sold you on plastic limited camera bodies, soon they'll work on an organic sensor with 100 EV dynamic range". You see how this works? We also went through the same thing with backlit sensors, which in the end turned out to be only slightly better than other sensors. The 30-40% increase in Dynamic range and low light capability never materialized.

Last edited by normhead; 03-25-2017 at 07:54 AM.
03-25-2017, 07:58 AM - 2 Likes   #15
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This looks like another case of a company having capitalized for a much higher volume market, and now responding to the decline in unit sales. Panny cannot any longer profitably amortize the cost of their camera Plant & Equipment and pay all their 'infrastructure' and line employees.

Steps:
  • Close some manufacturing plants or production lines and sell or write down Plant & Equipment
  • Significantly reduce Headcount
  • Consolidate various analogous now-smaller operations under a combined management and capital structure
  • Spread lower capital costs and operating costs over larger combined cash flows
  • Continue making cameras
  • Return to profitable operation of the combined operations
(Big) Ricoh did this in 2012.

Last edited by monochrome; 03-25-2017 at 01:48 PM.
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