The COVID-19 pandemic has presented some unique challenges to almost every industry this year.
But it has also exacerbated problems at companies that were already facing a litany of largely self-made issues already. And that is much the story of Nikon’s current financials, PetaPixel is reporting.
It seems the prestigious Japanese company is facing a particularly dire 2020 as consumer camera sales have collapsed and as it posts a 40% drop in sales for the coming quarter many are beginning to question Nikon’s past choices, namely its reluctance to get into the mirrorless market in order to protect DSLR (giving Sony a huge advantage).
Yet those who know their stuff are aware that Nikon makes way more than cameras. The precision machines business, for example, routinely prints money for the company while the healthcare division hasn’t shown a profit since 2017.
Where is the precision machinery division now? Its sales are down some 98%, PetaPixel reports. That website also cites conversations with other industry watchers that note Nikon’s failed Keymission line of action cameras was especially detrimental to its ability to find its footing in the modern camera market.
In other words, smartphones and their cameras are only one small part of the story of what is going on with Nikon.
Looking ahead, people are skeptical about the planned product offerings coming down the pipeline and whether they will be enough to turn things around. Even so, Nikon is not slowing down its product release schedule in the slightest as we have reported here.
What do you think Nikon has to do to turn things around? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section if you like.
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1 Comment
Avid nikon user since i was 13! Now 27 years later im all fuji!!!!! Nikon lost touch with photography and artists like me years ago, probably all the diversification in biz model you talk about above makes it hard for large companies to connect with the end users of their products. I also teach photography and lost all faith when my students were showing up with nikon cameras that were absolute trash (and expensive trash).
Once i saw the fuji x-trans sensor in my xt-1, and the fuji price points, i forgot how to spell nikon. Thanks to a pricing war with sony i now own a GFX which is simply stunning.