After 84 years of practice, Olympus is retiring from the photography market. The Japanese company has decided to sell its camera branch to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), an investment fund.
Competitor of Nikon and Canon, in particular, Olympus can no longer find its account in a photo market which has plummeted since the advent of smartphones. Olympus has put in place measures to deal with this new competition, but despite its efforts, the company has recorded ” operating losses for three consecutive fiscal years “Says the company in a statement. Its last quarter, ending in March 2020, also follows this trend.
Photography only represents a tiny part of Olympus’ activity. This segment accounts for 5% of the company’s total annual sales, which has refocused on the medical equipment market in recent years.
Olympus and JIP plan to sign a final agreement by the end of September 2020. The financial terms of this acquisition have not yet been made public. Olympus ensures that the sale to the JIP fund, which will therefore take over the reins, will allow “ a gain in agility and efficiency as well as the most appropriate way to grow more and satisfy our customers and employees working in the photography sector ” The sale should be concluded, at the latest, at the end of 2020.
The latest weapon of Olympus on the photo market is the creation with Panasonic of the Micro 4/3 format. This has resulted in interchangeable lens cameras smaller than the SLRs. This innovation did not prevent an exceptional fall in cameras, compacts being the most affected: sales were divided by eight in ten years.
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