[parinya-ekparinya]

Panasonic don't publish their camera sales figures, Mistral75, as you've pointed out, and they're the ones I really want to look at … I see way less Panasonics around than Olympuses!

I notice the same thing in Sydney area; Olympus cameras are more common than Panasonic.

[mlt]

Other than the almost a Leica bridge cameras, most of their m43 cameras are probably used for video. Less chance of seeing those.

[Mistral75]

^ I'd say it's the Leica C-Lux which is almost a Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200/TZ200.

[Kevin B123]

I don't know how reputable this is, but it's out there:
Olympus CEO Backtracks, says Camera Business May Be for Sale: Report

[HoutHans]

The same news is repeated elsewhere, now that doesn't make it more reputable, but I can't see why a company would allow its CEO to be misquoted on such a big thing. I guess that Olympus is doomed.

[Mistral75]

I don't know how reputable this is, but it's out there:
Olympus CEO Backtracks, says Camera Business May Be for Sale: Report

'This' is from Bloomberg, a reputable financial, software, data and media company.

Bloomberg L.P. - Wikipedia.

[Kevin B123]

'This' is from Bloomberg, a reputable financial, software, data and media company.

It has legs then. Sad, who knows how this will play out now.

[DeadJohn]

I don't know if Olympus will be the next company to exit the camera market, but IMO the sooner one company leave a shrinking market, the healthier it is for the survivors.



Olympus' CEO walking back his comments does not look good. Maybe he originally knowingly lied and got legal advice warning him of stock market rules, or maybe he was cut out of the decision loop by the board. Remember that Olympus is the same company that had a major scandal in 2011 when 3 decades of illegal accounting came to light.

[RGlasel]

Olympus' CEO walking back his comments does not look good. Maybe he originally knowingly lied and got legal advice warning him of stock market rules, or maybe he was cut out of the decision loop by the board.

The quote in the Bloomberg article is "Takeuchi also backtracked on some of his comments in the past that the camera business was not for sale, saying that may not be the case anymore," which gives him lots of wriggle room. This is still a striking thing for the Olympus CEO to state publicly, even allowing for the fact that Takeuchi was only promoted to CEO in April of this year, this is a clear signal that Olympus is open to offers for its camera business, because as you point out, the CEO can't make off the cuff remarks that aren't true without violating security regulations.

This statement does not necessarily mean that Olympus will exit the camera business if it is unsuccessful in finding a buyer and it is highly unlikely someone will buy it in order to shut it down. To put a for sale sign on a camera and lens manufacturing business in the current market suggests to me that price is not going to be a sticking point in negotiations, as long as a potential buyer is acceptable to the government of Japan, Olympus will be out of the camera business as quickly as it can, but its brand equity is just as valuable as its tangible assets, so I expect to see Olympus branded products available for purchase for several years to come along with support for the existing customer base. Every camera and lens buyer out there is an experienced photographer; new brands will have zero chance of picking up market share. Even if a competitor buys Olympus' camera business, there is nothing to be gained by dumping the Olympus product line; odds are high that pissed off Olympus customers will not switch to the other brand that bought up all the Olympus camera business. More likely that former Olympus customers will try to avoid the product line that closed Olympus Cameras forever.

[UncleVanya]

Photography suddenly feels like the island of misfit toys...

[DeadJohn]

...there is nothing to be gained by [buying and] dumping the Olympus product line...

I agree with what you wrote. I'll add that a purchase could be like the Ricoh/Pentax deal where another camera company wants the Olympus name and continues to [slowly] release new products.

Or maybe Samsung will buy Olympus and reenter the camera market that they never officially left

[Mistral75]

I agree with what you wrote. I'll add that a purchase could be like the Ricoh/Pentax deal where another camera company wants the Olympus name and continues to [slowly] release new products.

(...)

I'm not so sure Olympus would be fond of sharing their name with another company. Besides, the acquirer, should there be one, might not be that much interested in the Olympus brand name.

Take two potential acquirers for instance:

• Sharp are working on a 8K camera with a 4/3 sensor and their owner Foxconn (Taiwan) wants them to put more emphasis on the BtoC sector. They could therefore be interested but they would use their own brand. Same with JVC-Kenwood.
• DJI could be interested to complement their drones. They might consider using the Hasselblad brand in lieu of the Olympus brand.

[mlt]

Or his comments aren’t based on the idea of selling off the company per se, rather the idea that any part of the company could be sold, but not likely. This is true of all the players right now with the possible exception of Canon.

[Mistral75]

Or his comments aren’t based on the idea of selling off the company per se, rather the idea that any part of the company could be sold, but not likely. This is true of all the players right now with the possible exception of Canon.

I don't understand your point. Olympus Corp. are doing well (thanks to their Medical business) and are definitely not for sale. Their Imaging business, on the other hand...

[RGlasel]

I'm not so sure Olympus would be fond of sharing their name with another company.

Not only is the Pentax name shared between medical and photographic equipment, but Pentax Medical is also using the 100th anniversary of Asahi Optical as a promotional tool.