[Kevin B123]

I’m not sure what you meant by “chronic user interface”.

I researched ILC's around 2012/13 and looked at Olympus among others.

Their earlier financial position worked against them for me as well as the reviews which were universally critical of the user interface.

From my point of view, new to ILC's and wanting control of the exposure triangle and other functions, it seemed that I would be no better off than I would be with a point and shoot. Perhaps the reviews were too harsh, I don't know as I didn't go there.

As an experienced user, I think I could now manage the UI, knowing what I want. As a newby it looked like a nightmare.

[Mistral75]

Speaking of third-party (design and) manufacturing, I wonder whether the same ODM is behind the Ricoh WG and Olympus Though cameras, which are similar in many aspects.

[RobA_Oz]

I researched ILC's around 2012/13 and looked at Olympus among others.

Their earlier financial position worked against them for me as well as the reviews which were universally critical of the user interface.

From my point of view, new to ILC's and wanting control of the exposure triangle and other functions, it seemed that I would be no better off than I would be with a point and shoot. Perhaps the reviews were too harsh, I don't know as I didn't go there.

As an experienced user, I think I could now manage the UI, knowing what I want. As a newby it looked like a nightmare.

OK. I get what you’re saying, now. I remember being a newbie to photography (just), but cameras were a lot simpler then, and I’ve had the advantage of growing with the technology. Someone coming into it cold, now, with their only experience likely being a phone camera (where everything is managed for you) is bound to be somewhat bewildered.

[bdery]

Somebody interested in a larger footprint in the µ4/3 market? Somebody currently more video-oriented than still-oriented, looking for complementary products? Sharp, Japanese but with a Chinese (OK, Taiwanese) controlling shareholder (Foxconn) who wants them to diversify from BtoB into BtoC?

Or Panasonic maybe? Not saying you're wrong, but the criteria you list also apply to Panasonic.

[Wasp]

If true, this is a tragedy for all lovers of cameras and history. This is a company that started in the same year as Asahi Optical. Being all-in on mirrorless has not helped them, just like Samsung before them.

Samsung was one of the first mirrorless adopters, but I don't think that was the reason for their exit from the market. Then again, nobody seems to know the answer to that question - not even Samsung themselves.

As for Olympus, me thinks they went big on a small sensor and the market is not there. MFT makes some sense for video. I mean, you are only using up as many pixels as the HD/4K/whatever requires. For stills, more is more. Bigger is always better for any kind of photography.

The big asking prices for their top end models doesn't help their cause either.

[fs999]

Samsung was one of the first mirrorless adopters, but I don't think that was the reason for their exit from the market. Then again, nobody seems to know the answer to that question - not even Samsung themselves.

Even in the hard disk division, they don't know why Samsung leaved the leadership (do you remember the Spinpoint disks, I have one working since ten years, with more cache than any other brand) to Seagate in 2011...

[2B1]

Following the 2011 accounting scandal and its impact on Olympus shareholders equity Sony came to the rescue of Olympus. They subscribed to a ¥50bn ($643.5m) capital increase and became the biggest shareholder in Olympus Corp. with a 11.46% stake.

Sony sold half of their stake to JPMorgan in April 2015 and the other half to Olympus in August 2019 for a total amount of ¥150m.

Considering Sony paid $643.5m , then sold half the shares for $150m , (cost Sony $321m)indicates how badly Olympus imaging division is doing.
This is a huge loss for Sony.

There is an unsubstantiated rumour , that a member of the Board of Directors ,in Sony imaging has stated.

" I said at the time, We would be better of investing in Pentax,
Just look at how well Ricoh is doing.

There may be some truth in this.
Regards

[RGlasel]

This is a huge loss for Sony.

Ah, just peanuts to a company with annual revenue of almost $80 billion US. Sony is an outlier in every industry it has a part in, none of its competitors have such a diverse and high profile portfolio. Percentage-wise, its most profitable division is music (in absolute terms, the profit from music is second only to Games and Network Services, but in terms of revenue, music is sixth, behind even the Imaging and Sensing Solutions group).

In 2015, Sony's 5-year plan was to milk the digital camera business and invest in sensor manufacturing; in 2019 that plan appears to be a little off kilter, the demand for sensors has not met expectations, but that division still generates almost twice as much profit as the entire Electronic Products and Solutions group (which includes Imaging Products and Solutions) on only 37% of EP&S' revenue. In the EP&S group, Imaging Products & Solutions was profitable enough to more than offset losses in Mobile Communications, but Sony's financial report singles out digital cameras (not including video) for a 22% drop in unit sales compared to the fiscal year ending March 2018. That's the classic profile of a division looking to be sold off, but I suspect that there are fewer potential buyers for the Sony Camera operations today than there were in February 2015.

I'll take this opportunity to spitball and suggest that Sony and Panasonic will spin off their camera divisions to form a combined entity that has a strategic partnership with a single lens manufacturer.

[Mistral75]

Considering Sony paid $643.5m , then sold half the shares for $150m , (cost Sony $321m)indicates how badly Olympus imaging division is doing.
This is a huge loss for Sony.

(...)

Sony paid ¥50bn for the shares subscribed and sold them in two operations for a total of ¥150bn (not ¥150m, my bad), three times the price paid.

Those were shares in Olympus Corp., not Olympus Imaging. Thanks to their Medical business Olympus are doing fine.

[2B1]

s for Olympus, me thinks they went big on a small sensor and the market is not there. MFT makes some sense for video. I mean, you are only using up as many pixels as the HD/4K/whatever requires. For stills, more is more. Bigger is always better for any kind of photography.

Interesting....I am sure either, Cannon or Sony released a large sensor camera , and offered video , using a reduced part of the sensor. Whomever it is, was slated in the press.
(I am unsure if this is a comparable .)

[Mistral75]

A table to illustrate how tiny Olympus Imaging, which generated 28% of Olympus consolidated revenue and 29% of their consolidated operating income In FY2008, has become over time.



Therefore, should they so wish and be allowed to by their board of directors and shareholders, Olympus management may elect to keep on shrinking their Imaging business and losing money with it as they have done for the last eleven years, with the hope of eventually succeeding in turning it around.

Not because it's a 'crucial component to the overall Olympus business', as they pretend, but because it has become so small that they can afford it, like a danseuse (*).


(*) A female dancer in French, meaning a kept woman in this context.

[bdery]

There is an unsubstantiated rumour , that a member of the Board of Directors ,in Sony imaging has stated.

" I said at the time, We would be better of investing in Pentax,
Just look at how well Ricoh is doing.

That's still rumour, but it gets the mind spinning to imagine the implications.

[aaacb]

Same as Ricoh issued a statement earlier this year, Olympus had to do the same to dispute single source rumours that were repeated often enough
Olympus issues statement disputing rumors its imaging division will shut down within a year: Digital Photography Review

[clackers]

Samsung was one of the first mirrorless adopters, but I don't think that was the reason for their exit from the market. Then again, nobody seems to know the answer to that question - not even Samsung themselves.

It's not a mystery, Wasp, noone but you or I wanted to be seen dead with the things.

Their Android cameras sold just as badly, a cautionary tale to people who say all a successful camera has to do is resemble the phone people already own.

[Rondec]

Sony paid ¥50bn for the shares subscribed and sold them in two operations for a total of ¥150bn (not ¥150m, my bad), three times the price paid.

Those were shares in Olympus Corp., not Olympus Imaging. Thanks to their Medical business Olympus are doing fine.

The interesting thing to me was that it was a different Hedge Fund (Third Point LLC) that forced Sony to sell those shares. Even big Japanese Corporations with plenty of revenue are susceptible to foreign leverage.