[Zooland]

Well, if it's only 5% then they can completely neglect it and it wouldn't matter.

Read the article on Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-19/olympus-job-cuts-may-come...ch-intensifies
There seems to be some internal divisions, don’t think this issue will go away soon.

[Mistral75]

Read the article on Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-19/olympus-job-cuts-may-come...ch-intensifies
There seems to be some internal divisions, don’t think this issue will go away soon.

My interpretation of all these back-and-forth statements is that Olympus are very reluctant to sell or close their Imaging segment but are pressed by ValueAct Capital, the activist fund that nominated three board members, to do so.

Therefore, when Yasuo Takeuchi, the CEO of Olympus, talks to investors (Bloomberg are a financial newsgroup) he has to admit that all options are on the table. When local subsidiaries talk to their clients (distributors and retailers) and end-customers, directly or via a third-party website/blog such as Photofocus, they have to appease them and therefore they state that 'for Imaging, however, we currently have no plans to sell the business.'

Note the 'currently'...

[Kunzite]

My interpretation of all these back-and-forth statements is that Olympus are very reluctant to sell or close their Imaging segment but are pressed by ValueAct Capital, the activist fund that nominated three board members, to do so.

It was an activist fund (SPARX) which forced Pentax' hostile takeover by Hoya.

[JDW]

Does it make sense that a company on the verge of shutting down, as some suggest, would be releasing 3 new lenses in 2020?

Olympus updates its lens roadmap with three new lenses due out in 2020: Digital Photography Review

[Mistral75]

Does it make sense that a company on the verge of shutting down, as some suggest, would be releasing 3 new lenses in 2020?

Olympus updates its lens roadmap with three new lenses due out in 2020: Digital Photography Review

Remember that Samsung showcased a 300mm f/2.8, including working prototypes, before shutting down their camera division.

Besides, Olympus would definitely prefer to sell Olympus Imaging (which, by the way, is a business segment, not a company) rather than to shut it down. In order to do so, they would have to make it attractive, which would imply a steady flow of new products in the pipeline.

To give you a more concrete example: Hoya added the Q and the K-01 in the pipeline of Pentax products ahead of selling the Pentax camera business.

[Rondec]

Does it make sense that a company on the verge of shutting down, as some suggest, would be releasing 3 new lenses in 2020?

Olympus updates its lens roadmap with three new lenses due out in 2020: Digital Photography Review

Olympus as a company is fine. Unlike Nikon, the majority of their revenue comes from non-imaging related activities (mostly medical). Odds as well are that if they weren't pushed by outsiders, they would continue imaging activities as usual, telling share holders that R and D for Imaging helps the medical side as well.

I don't think they are shutting things down right away, but they are certainly going to have some hard decisions going forward. Gear in the pipe line that has already been developed will probably still come out, but the rate of new gear releases is bound to slow down.

As Mistral75 said, there is typically little warning before a brand shuts things down. They are running 90 miles an hour and then stop. That was true for Samsung and honestly, I don't recall a lot of forewarning about the sale of Pentax from Hoya to Ricoh, either.

[Winder]

I'm not at the point that I would be too worried about Olympus shutting down the consumer camera division. I don't think they can really afford to just shut it down and nobody is going to buy the camera division in the current market. We will see some cost cutting to get the P&L looking better and they will do what Hoya did with Pentax. The industry has changed drastically and the players who have been slow to change are going to be left behind. Olympus is still a significant player in the mirrorless market, but they need to be pushing forward like Sony, Panasonic, and Fuji if they want to stay alive. Olympus has a pretty significant number of core technologies that they can build on. They need better AF and to finally use a modern generation of sensor. Step up to the current generation of EVF. Olympus needs to step lens production with some more exotic glass. The F/1.2 pro lenses are nice, but that's not fast enough for the current world of available light shooters.


If you control your light you can easily get professional quality results.

You Tube

You Tube

[Leumas]

I'm not at the point that I would be too worried about Olympus shutting down the consumer camera division. I don't think they can really afford to just shut it down and nobody is going to buy the camera division in the current market. We will see some cost cutting to get the P&L looking better and they will do what Hoya did with Pentax. The industry has changed drastically and the players who have been slow to change are going to be left behind. Olympus is still a significant player in the mirrorless market, but they need to be pushing forward like Sony, Panasonic, and Fuji if they want to stay alive. Olympus has a pretty significant number of core technologies that they can build on. They need better AF and to finally use a modern generation of sensor. Step up to the current generation of EVF. Olympus needs to step lens production with some more exotic glass. The F/1.2 pro lenses are nice, but that's not fast enough for the current world of available light shooters.


If you control your light you can easily get professional quality results.

LED Light Portraits in a Small Home Studio , Behind The Scenes with Olympus OM-D EM-1 MK ii - YouTube

I agree
Their latest auto-focus systems are pretty top notch from what I've heard. Miles ahead of what we got with Pentax so far. Also I wouldn't be surprised to see some F/.95 lenses coming from them at some point.

If you followed that video before it came out, she posted a preview pic and asked what camera people thought she was trying. So many guessed "looks like medium format to me" it was hilarious. Just goes to show the sensor size debate is mostly in peoples imaginations aside from a few select situations.

[BigMackCam]

Their latest auto-focus systems are pretty top notch from what I've heard. Miles ahead of what we got with Pentax so far.

Out of interest, how are they doing with OVFs?

[xmeda]

Out of interest, how are they doing with OVFs?

They don't need OVF. And in next 5 years OVF numbers across remaining brands are going to be drastically reduced. But don't worry. With good EVF you'll quickly forget about OVF

It is like when first touchscreen mobile phones arrived and many guys preferred their old phones with keypads. And now few years later they have some smartphone never looking back.


...and we can always grab some old Zenit in case of OVF deficiency
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu2Hv4QFC02/

[Rondec]

I'm not at the point that I would be too worried about Olympus shutting down the consumer camera division. I don't think they can really afford to just shut it down and nobody is going to buy the camera division in the current market. We will see some cost cutting to get the P&L looking better and they will do what Hoya did with Pentax. The industry has changed drastically and the players who have been slow to change are going to be left behind. Olympus is still a significant player in the mirrorless market, but they need to be pushing forward like Sony, Panasonic, and Fuji if they want to stay alive. Olympus has a pretty significant number of core technologies that they can build on. They need better AF and to finally use a modern generation of sensor. Step up to the current generation of EVF. Olympus needs to step lens production with some more exotic glass. The F/1.2 pro lenses are nice, but that's not fast enough for the current world of available light shooters.


If you control your light you can easily get professional quality results.

LED Light Portraits in a Small Home Studio , Behind The Scenes with Olympus OM-D EM-1 MK ii - YouTube

I'm not sure what you mean "afford to shut it down." If I have a business that has lost me a billion dollars over the last decade, how much do I lose by shuttering it? Obviously if they think the camera market is going to turn around or they personally are going to turn things around, then it makes sense to keep going.

It is just such a cut throat market now. The issue isn't that you can't get good results with micro four thirds, it is that cameras like the Z6 and A7 III are selling in the 1600 to 1700 dollar range. It is hard to imagine anyone but a die hard Olympus devotee purchasing a 2600 dollar micro four thirds camera or even one in the 1200 dollar range.

Odds are that Olympus will restructure, cut new releases way down but not shut things down completely, but I don't think it is going to be an easy situation by any means. Cutting production probably means needing to increase prices and/or sales both of which are going to be really hard to do in this marketplace.

[surfar]

I'm not sure what you mean "afford to shut it down." If I have a business that has lost me a billion dollars over the last decade, how much do I lose by shuttering it? Obviously if they think the camera market is going to turn around or they personally are going to turn things around, then it makes sense to keep going.

It is just such a cut throat market now. The issue isn't that you can't get good results with micro four thirds, it is that cameras like the Z6 and A7 III are selling in the 1600 to 1700 dollar range. It is hard to imagine anyone but a die hard Olympus devotee purchasing a 2600 dollar micro four thirds camera or even one in the 1200 dollar range.

Odds are that Olympus will restructure, cut new releases way down but not shut things down completely, but I don't think it is going to be an easy situation by any means. Cutting production probably means needing to increase prices and/or sales both of which are going to be really hard to do in this marketplace.

Is it really a billion dollars? Or is that the creative accounting that they are infamous for?

[Mistral75]

(...)

Odds are that Olympus will restructure, cut new releases way down but not shut things down completely, but I don't think it is going to be an easy situation by any means. Cutting production probably means needing to increase prices and/or sales both of which are going to be really hard to do in this marketplace.

Olympus will probably do with their Imaging business what Hoya, then Ricoh have done with Pentax, however under tougher market conditions.

[Mistral75]

Is it really a billion dollars? Or is that the creative accounting that they are infamous for?

According to Olympus's financial reports the total operating loss of Olympus Imaging between FY2009 and FY2019, both years included, amounts to ¥92.9bn. That's roughly one billion dollars lost over 11 years.



But you're free to think that this loss was reduced by creative accounting and the actual loss is even bigger.

[xmeda]

They lost big part of that money in risky financial investments, creative accounting with Yakuza included and also by selling some parts of company significantly under-priced.

Cameras are not the problem.. company leaders are.

It is not garage factory. They employ over 35 000 people and they are not dependent on camera sales. And remember that they sell more cameras than Ricoh/Pentax...