Recently we published an article, where Nikkei experts predicted a dark future for the camera industry. It’s an interesting one, that goes beyond the statement “smartphones are to blame for that“. Make sure to read if first here.
This is kind of a follow up article to that.
Here are a few considerations, and then feel free to say your opinion in the comments and to vote the survey down below.
Let’s start!
Triggered by recent failure of the Olympus imaging division (which FujiRumors dedicated an own – and very personal – article here), Nikkei deputy editor Masamichi Hoshi has published a rather dark overview over the current camera market situation and an even darker forecast.
The article starts by taking into account two rather obvious reasons, why the camera industry struggles, and that surely Japanese camera makers are not responsible for:
The numbers of the decline are dramatic:
A special mention in regards of struggling companies goes to Nikon, which has photography as a core business (unlike Fujifilm), but also all other brands are having hard times.
Nikon’s imaging unit, which has focused on digital cameras, finished the fiscal year that ended in March with an operating loss of 17.1 billion yen ($158.7 million), down from a profit of 22 billion yen the previous year. In November, the unit drafted a rebuilding plan focused on the “pro-hobby class,” which consumes 3 million interchangeable lenses per year. It aims to cut 50 billion yen from its fiscal 2019 operating costs by the end of fiscal 2022. The cuts will come from a reorganization of production plants, a narrowing of products and a personnel reduction.
The digital camera operations of companies like Ricoh and Panasonic also continue to struggle. The operating profit at Canon’s imaging system units fell by 48.2 billion yen in the year through December, a 62% drop the previous year.
But beyond smartphones and COVID-19, there is a third reason highlighted by Masamichi Hoshi, which is the one we want to focus on here today: excessive competition.
Here is what Masamichi Hoshi writes on Nikkei:
Tony Northrup just released a predictions video, on which camera systems will survive, and which ones not.
Probably fine (in order from most fine, to least fine):
The latest BCN ranking has just been published. It collects data of about 40% of the Japanese electronics and online stores. Here is what they see:
They write:
In the rankings by series, Canon’s “EOS Kiss M” beat the Olympus “OLYMPUS PEN E-PL9” by a small margin to gain the top position. Sony ranks No. 1 by manufacturer and ranks No. 3 at “α6400”. As for Fujifilm’s soaring rise, “FUJIFILM X-A5” ranked 6th, and “FUJIFILM X-E3” ranked 9th. (Daisuke Okura, BCN)
Nice to see the Fujifilm X-E3 doing well. And hence even more disappointing that Fujifilm decided to axe it!
Also, keep in mind that in the last 6 months Fujifilm was extremely busy and launched lots of cameras, from the X-Pro3 to the X-T200, X100V and ultimately the X-T4 (the latter one not included in the raking, though). All this, while other manufacturer were not nearly as active.
And yet, nice to see this sales performance boost. It’s well deserved for a camera company, that makes some of the most inspiring photographic tools out there.
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Here is a roundup about photographers, who are switching from full frame Sony, Canon and Nikon to Fujifilm X.
Mostly they say that the difference in image quality compared to full frame is negligible. But the difference in ergonomics, functionality, menu system, look, size, beautiful lenses, color science etc is much more significant. These aspects make the real difference and worth it to go with Fujifilm APS-C.
At the end, the most important thing is getting into a system that makes you want to shoot more, and Fujifilm is, for some, the best choice for that. As one of the them said:
There is something about Fujifilm, where they want you to get the most for what you pay for.
And to be clear: if you shoot any other brand, and are happy with it, then you did everything right, and you should not care about what the people below say. You have your needs, and you are right to ignore Fujifilm.
But here we are on a Fujifilm blog, so we talk about people, who shoot Fujifilm.
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