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Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Mon 06 Jul 2020, 10:29
by Mike Farley
An interview with Olympus UK posted by Amateur Photographer. The Olympus rep talks a good game, I especially liked:

"There is a distinction between we can’t make money with the products, and we can’t make enough money. The division was making money, but it was loss making ........"

https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/l ... iew-138455

Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Mon 06 Jul 2020, 12:44
by Franke07
"I can tell you is that we have sold more products in the last three months in the UK than we did last year – sales in this first quarter are up." How many of those sales would have been realised, had they made the announcement end of last year!?
I just hope they provide the same level of support to their customers, as they would have done if they weren't being sold!

Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Mon 06 Jul 2020, 14:09
by Mike Farley
Franke07 wrote:I just hope they provide the same level of support to their customers, as they would have done if they weren't being sold!

Investing in Olympus, new or used, at the moment does require a certain amount of optimism I would suggest. This interview is the kind of statement the company has to make if it has any hope of maintaining a viable concern. Things will probably not be that much different for a while as the new owner will, presumably, have to support existing warranties. Spare parts should be available for at least a bit longer which will allow third party repairs for equipment ouside the manufacturer's guarantee. I suspect that it will be four or five years before we really find out the answer to that question. By which time most servicing will likely be uneconomic. It is a good thing that mirrorless cameras have few moving parts other than the shutter and image stabilisation, and are generally reliable. The other consideration is how long the electronics will hold out.

Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Wed 15 Jul 2020, 08:58
by Mike Farley
There is a suggestion that the Olympus name will no longer be used for its products after the sale of the camera division. Commercially that makes sense as there is no change of ownership for Olympus itself and the company will continue to operate its other business interests. Olympus has long had issues with naming, which means that models could be left with titles such as OM-D E-M1 Mark III which are hardly catchy. Since the Olympus name is prominently displayed on the cameras, I wonder if the new owners would be better introducing a new brand? "Pen" I can just about understand, but "OMD"?

The story is everywhere, this is the original source from 43 Rumors, which also reports that no one in the Olympus divisions in Europe and North America knew about the sale until the press announcement. Ouch!

https://www.43rumors.com/what-happens-n ... and-zuiko/

Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Sat 18 Jul 2020, 08:21
by Mike Farley
Dave Etchells at Imaging Resource is amongst those who have interviewed members of senior management at the Olympus Imaging Division. Unlike others, he also gives his analysis of what the announcement means and gives his interpretation of the guarded responses. One topic which has come up, both in this interview and others, is whether the Olympus brand will continue to be associated with the new company after the transfer. The answer is that it will, at least at the beginning. Etchells believes that dropping it would be a mistake, but retaining the name in the short term might be a necessary practical move. There will be inventory bearing the branding which will need to sold. When the existing stock is exhausted, will Olympus really want to have another organisation using its name?

https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2 ... ision-sale

Re: Olympus has fallen!

Posted: Sat 25 Jul 2020, 08:33
by Mike Farley
A report from Nikkei Asian Review, via DPReview, suggests that the Olympus sale could be just the start of a major consolidation in the Japanese camera industry. Anyone care to place bets on which companies (company?) will be left? You could be doing that in future with every purchase ........

The article includes a quote, allegedly made 11 years ago by Hiroshi Hamada, the former Chief Operating Officer of Hoya, who had acquired Pentax around the time of his tenure:

"Digital camera companies intend to strangle their rivals through excessive competition, but in the end they’ll strangle themselves."

Hoya wanted other parts of the Pentax operation and did not hang onto the camera division for long, selling it on to Ricoh.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/105424300 ... ympus-sale