The Olympus saga dragged on for some time with rumor after rumor indicating that the company was about to leave the business.
Of course, they denied it right up until the moment they confirmed what everyone feared and now we’re getting a repeat of history possibly with Panasonic as rumors about its potential exit from the consumer camera market rear their head.
Japanese website Diamond.co.jp points to Panasonic’s recent divestiture of its televisions manufacturing unit to Chinese giant TCL. The theory goes that this was basically a practice run for doing the same thing with the camera business. With shrinking margins and an increasingly competitive space as companies chase few buyers, the logic totally checks out.
Photo Rumors quotes the website, writing:
“Panasonic has decided to outsource TV production to TCL in China. With this, the structural reform of the TV business, which has been in the red for many years, has come to an end, but the reform is still halfway compared to the global competition. Along with TVs, the three problematic businesses are digital cameras and housings (toilet, kitchen, building materials, etc.). Can Panasonic’s new system have the “courage to withdraw” to put an end to non-competitive businesses?”
As multiple people have pointed out, Panasonic isn’t a major player in this sector and that could be another reason the camera biz is on the potential chopping block. No buyers or plans are named although a Sony-style spin-off would be interesting to see. It could go the way of Olympus and get bought out by another company but this is all just speculation at this point.
When something changes, we’ll tell you about it.
What do you think Panasonic is going to do? Will they exit the consumer camera market like Olympus? Let us know your thoughts on Panasonic’s future in the comments below.
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