[mee]

Nikon really needs to stop the sharp decline in their core business (DSLRs). If they don't, Pentax could eventually creep ahead for the value it offers, overshadowed by Canon's dominance of the segment.

Per CIPA, the ILC and compact digital camera market has grown so far in 2017 compared to 2016, so I agree, you can't really blame the market as it looks like we're seeing a recovery from the massive dropoff from 2014 to 2016.

Furthermore, DSLR sales remain mostly steady despite the 40+% boom of mirrorless in most regions.

Is there really a sharp decline in DSLRs for Nikon? I think this particular plant largely manufactured compacts.. and that market is obviously hurting.


D850 sales are still extremely brisk.. to the point there is a shortage of preorders from August still currently being filled. And everywhere it seems to be on backorder. They had brief shortage of some lenses too due to demand back in late August/September as well.


I think what Nikon is doing is really right-sizing, because they are too big for their own good offering too many product types and too many products of those types.

[normhead]

The facts are these..
The yuan is taking force and Chinese labor wages are going up..Actually, it only costs 4% more to produce in the USA, (CNNMoney report).
The key word is Thailand, it points to probably all consumer grade electronics will shift manufacturing to South Asian countries..
Where are those DAL lenses made?

So, you're saying closing a plant and laying off 10% of their work force is just a neutral restructuring to take advantage of cheap labour in SE Asia?

[Jeff Lopez]

So, you're saying closing a plant and laying off 10% of their work force is just a neutral restructuring to take advantage of cheap labour in SE Asia?

This is the trend, so I would say so..
The smartphone excuse is really so childish, I really doubt that statement came from Nikon top management.
This is not only Nikon, but look around 2017..You get to see a lot of made in Cambodia,Vietnam,Indonesia..
But this could be a good thing for some, as you may expect to see more made in Japan again, if that comforts them.

[normhead]

This is the trend, so I would say so..
The smartphone excuse is really so childish, I really doubt that statement came from Nikon top management.
This is not only Nikon, but look around 2017..You get to see a lot of made in Cambodia,Vietnam,Indonesia..
But this could be a good thing for some, as you may expect to see more made in Japan again, if that comforts them.

I have no information in front of me that would suggest that is what is happening. Unless there was an announcement that they can do what they did before with 10% less manpower, and that even though they are closing the plant , production capacity will remain the same.... I see absolutely no reason to assume manufacturing costs have anything to do with it. And "everyone is doing it" isn't always (or even often) applicable to a specific case.

I'm sure this is a set back for Nikon just the way the information was released. Blame smartphones, nothing at all positive. If it was neutral, they would have said why. IN fact if there were anything positive at all about it, we would have seen some spin.

What the announcement says is "In the current economic climate Nikon doesn't need or can't afford 10% of it's workforce and one of it's plants."

No matter how you spin it, that's not good for Nikon. If things were good for Nikon, they'd be hiring staff and opening new plants. Notice, no new plant announcement. No announcement that new staff will be hired in a new plant somewhere else, to replace the one that's closing. It may well be that all camera makers are somewhat caught up in the downturn they describe. But that makes it bad for everyone, not just Nikon, but, it's still bad or Nikon.

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Last edited by normhead; 11-01-2017 at 10:19 AM.

[Jeff Lopez]

They are not saying that they will discontinue kit lens and Coolpixs..Just lowering costs, doing business as usual..whats to hard to understand?

[Rondec]

Nikon's overproduction has been a problem for awhile. It isn't unusual that there are three different 3xxx models that are currently available -- differing slightly in frame rates or minor functions, but not really in real world shooting. Nikon definitely needs to cut back production at least a little bit.

On the other hand, if reports are right, their higher end cameras like the D500, D5 and D850 all seem to sell in the quantities the produce them and without huge discounts you often see on lower end gear.

[normhead]

They are not saying that they will discontinue kit lens and Coolpixs..Just lowering costs, doing business as usual..whats to hard to understand?

Why they had to cut staff and close a plant to do that.

How is cutting 10% of your staff and closing a plant business as usual?
If it is usual, and you do it say once a month, eventually you're a bit player with practically no staff and no plants.
If there are cycles where you are headed up, and cycles where you are headed down, this is part of a down cycle.

What's so hard to understand?

The thing we don't know is if it the start of a trend, or short terms adjustment. But that it is evidence that all is not well in the world of Nikon is apparent.

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Last edited by normhead; 11-01-2017 at 11:33 AM.

[Adam]

Is there really a sharp decline in DSLRs for Nikon? I think this particular plant largely manufactured compacts.. and that market is obviously hurting.

Yes, over the past year Canon has been slowly and steadily eating away at their market share, and Sony isn't helping either.

But Nikon's cameras are "better" from an image quality standpoint, and the D850 and D500 are both very competitive, so they should be able to remain in the lead if they play their cards right. We'll have to wait and see!

[normhead]

Yes, over the past year Canon has been slowly and steadily eating away at their market share, and Sony isn't helping either.

But Nikon's cameras are "better" from an image quality standpoint, and the D850 and D500 are both very competitive, so they should be able to remain in the lead if they play their cards right. We'll have to wait and see!

I have to agree, if I were to jump brands, I'd go Nikon, and I know a couple of Canon shooters who shoot like I do, who have switched from Canon to Nikon. It's disappointing to see them doing poorly. I hope they get things fixed up soon.

[Jeff Lopez]

Norm, its not a short terms adjustment, for sure. You dont close a factory and say "well, we"ll open it again later on". Short term adjustments are done on existing and future manufacturing lines, Ricoh/Pentax is a great example of this (no need to redo lenses, the ones wehave will do for now).
It is true, and I have to give you credit, that we dont have enough information to write on stone what will be Nikon's future. Im only saying that, speculating on we read and see and historical data on consumer grade manufacturing there are more powerful reasons to close operations just like that..

[Wheatfield]

This is the trend, so I would say so..
The smartphone excuse is really so childish, I really doubt that statement came from Nikon top management.
This is not only Nikon, but look around 2017..You get to see a lot of made in Cambodia,Vietnam,Indonesia..
But this could be a good thing for some, as you may expect to see more made in Japan again, if that comforts them.

There is no doubt that smartphones have gutted the compact camera market. The only surprise here is that it took so long for factories that make compacts to start closing. A similar thing happened a couple of decades ago when digital compacts suddenly started eating into film compact sales. Factories didn't close, but all of a sudden it was hard to find a film compact camera as the factories that made them were repurposed to make digital compacts.
Nikon needs to start making smartphones.
The smartphone camera is made to order for the compact camera customer. It's no wonder that compact cameras are no longer selling.

[Adam]

It's no wonder that compact cameras are no longer selling.

It's only a matter of time before they reinvent the segment, though. This year's sales numbers already reflect an uptick in compact sales. Think of VR, action, underwater, and attachable cameras. Companies that make an effective transition into these markets will profit (which is one of the reasons by it's so good that Ricoh is being innovative with the Theta).

[clackers]

.

On the other hand, if reports are right, their higher end cameras like the D500, D5 and D850 all seem to sell in the quantities the produce them and without huge discounts you often see on lower end gear.

I think very few people buy premium cameras. It's an act of desperation by a mass manufacturer that had a high volume, low margin model of production to become Leica.

[Rondec]

I think very few people buy premium cameras. It's an act of desperation by a mass manufacturer that had a high volume, low margin model of production to become Leica.

Maybe.

But Canon, Sony, and Nikon all target multiple different price levels with their gear. Certainly they aren't losing money on 3500 dollar cameras and in point of fact, they probably make more per unit on them than on lower end cameras, although they sell a lot fewer units. But I can't explain the market. Canon and Sony are a lot hotter than Nikon and that's working against Nikon.

[Jeff Lopez]

There is no doubt that smartphones have gutted the compact camera market. The only surprise here is that it took so long for factories that make compacts to start closing. A similar thing happened a couple of decades ago when digital compacts suddenly started eating into film compact sales. Factories didn't close, but all of a sudden it was hard to find a film compact camera as the factories that made them were repurposed to make digital compacts.
Nikon needs to start making smartphones.
The smartphone camera is made to order for the compact camera customer. It's no wonder that compact cameras are no longer selling.

No, Nikon should put its tech inside the smartphone camera..Apple just bought a sensor company, it would be cool it would have Nikon optics..