We brought you news last year that Nikon was ceasing its online operations in Brazil, much to the chagrin of fans living there. And, although it will involve more hassle than in the past, it seems like Nikon isn't abandoning existing customers in Brazil – it just isn't going to actively pursue new customers.
Now comes word that the company is ceasing operations in the Brazilian market entirely according to PetaPixel, ending a long history of service in the country.
As for why Nikon is leaving Brazil it seems like some of the main reasons stem from the country’s booming grey market and what company officials call an unfriendly business climate for business despite the country’s massive potential consumer population.
This is because laws make it more economically viable to purchase product on the black market in Brazil than to buy it through legitimate channels according to Brazilian consumers familiar with purchasing optical equipment in the country.
Quoting Renato Murakami, PetaPixel writes: “Not only [is the] Brazilian bureaucracy […] extremely horrible for foreign companies, […] but also there’s a huge grey market of not only cameras but all sorts of electronics and other types of products to contend with…[T]ax on electronics are around 60% of anything that’s over $50. But the rule is extremely confusing. […] In the end, any end consumer buying imported products in Brazil might have to pay over double the price and wait an extremely long time to actually get what they want. The situation is so ridiculous that it’s often cheaper to fly to Miami, purchase a bunch of electronics there, spend the weekend, and fly back… and still pay less than if you bought those products in Brazil. Particularly for expensive gear like cameras.”
Some good news does come out of all of this: Nikon will be standing by their products with warranty service continuing and out-of-warranty products being serviced by Nikon USA.
1 Comment
it happened too late. RIP Nikon