Olympus shareholders want them out?

[bbarnett51]

Interesting article saying that Olympus shareholders are fed up. I hate these articles bc there is just speculation but it fans the flames.

Olympus could be leaving the digital camera market, reports say - DIY Photography

 

[ddekadt]

As long as the shareholders don't come to my house and take my Olympus cameras and lenses...

 

[Carbonman]

Olympus has invested a lot of money in shutting down their Chinese manufacturing and building facilities in Vietnam. They have committed significant internal resources to photographic product design and development, as well as restructuring their divisions to still accommodate the consumer camera group. As comments in various websites have noted, the camera division is a huge part of Olympus history and identity. If anything, Olympus needs a groundbreaking sensor that enables it to increase their product prices and generate serious profits. Think of Leica and what they charge vs. the rest of the market. Dedicated ILCs are headed for the niche market in the future, so volumes will drop and unit prices increase.
It's not easy or fiscally prudent to simply shut part of the company down. You would more likely see Olympus Photo spun off as a separate company and then quietly shopped around to potential buyers. It would then be an excellent acquisition by Samsung, Nikon or other companies looking to increase their presence in the photography market.

 

[Mike Wingate]

Well the latest is news that there will be a new EM5 mk111, sometime, with features at a price.

 

[D7k1]

I believe that when Olympus leaves the medical imaging business is when they will drop the camera business....just my opinion not Fake News

I am looking forward to the new Em5III - will strongly consider it 1st or 2cd quarter next year.

 

[ToxicTabasco]

According to one of the Youtubers, he says Olympus is the creme dela creame of photo cameras in Japan. I suspect the international investors are what keep the company competitive in the rest of the world. Mainly in the USA where FF seems to be the high status cameras to have.

 

[994]

At this point, I don't know that I do care or can care. I can't change anything, for sure. But also, there is no other full-featured system this compact. Yes, it struggles a bit at 12,000 ISO, and yes, I don't get all the "super" blurry background that can happen with full frame, but that's it. Everything else is rockin' and it's got great lenses, and a great size.

If they get out of the business, and Panny goes all FFey then maybe many more Full frame converts dump m43, and prices go down on FM, and I pick up a 25m 1.2 for $350 I'm good with that.

At some point the cameras stop working, and I'll look at moving at that time, but my guess is computational photography will be so far along in 5-7 years, that my phone just might be able to do most of what I want, and then I'll get a 5 year old Nikon Z6 for $750 (or less), and I'll be happy with my then-phone for travel + Z6 for around the house.

It's all good. Meanwhile, I get to play with this ridiculous GX850 + PL15.

 

[994]

Maybe, too -- Ricoh buys them, haha -- and they never explode in growth, but never disappear, and we get gear serviced, and a new body release every 2-3 years. I'll be fine with that, too.

 

[masayoshi]

Well, the biggest change for Olympus was, CEO Mr. Sasa who is an endoscope engineer advocating the notion that 'Imaging Division is a core business for Olympus corp' has stepped down. New CEO is a current CFO who may not insist the same notion to keep Imaging Division under the same umbrella. There are several board members joining from the hedge fund (ValueAct) who may propose and push the company to do more drastic restructuring.
There are continuing stories around the shady business acts Olympus has been trying to hide (related to China factory and closing), and they are under the scrutiny of Japanese government agencies. Interestingly, when the board change was announced, there was a massive 'buy' among investors, because the ValueAct board participation may force Olympus to become more transparent company.

 

[Zee]

According to one of the Youtubers, he says Olympus is the creme dela creame of photo cameras in Japan. I suspect the international investors are what keep the company competitive in the rest of the world. Mainly in the USA where FF seems to be the high status cameras to have.

When I was in Tokyo just a few months back, I did notice a boatload of M43 gear in the wild, and in general, living part time in SE Asia, I see a fair bit of M43 in general, but as soon as I get back to Aus, I'm certainly a minority.

Z...

 

[snaimpally]

Much of the technology that Olympus uses in their cameras ends up in their medical imaging products. Very unlikely that they will leave the camera market.

 

[mecrox]

Much of the technology that Olympus uses in their cameras ends up in their medical imaging products. Very unlikely that they will leave the camera market.

The camera division R&D expenditure is tiny compared to the size of medical and could easily be folded into it with little impact on its figures. That’s not likely the reason. Tradition, culture, brand-name recognition etc are more likely imho. We’ll see, but ValueAct aren’t on board to muck about. They will want real signs of progress to greater profitability. Spin off the camera ops and license would be one option.

 

[Holoholo55]

According to Olympus Russia, the rumor has no basis. It's malarkey.

Olympus Russia debunks the rumor saying they might stop the camera business - 43 Rumors

Do you believe everything you see on the Internet?

 

[mecrox]

According to Olympus Russia, the rumor has no basis. It's malarkey.

Olympus Russia debunks the rumor saying they might stop the camera business - 43 Rumors

Do you believe everything you see on the Internet?

The rumour started because a major new investor, ValueAct, has arrived at Olympus and among other things a new CEO is about to take over. ValueAct have made it clear they are looking to shake the place up a bit and grow the medical sector.

So there are obviously going to be changes. Will these affect the camera division and if so how? No one knows but "business as usual" probably isn't on the cards at least looking at the camera division's figures and performance in recent years. So no, it's not all malarkey but it doesn't mean the sky is falling either. We'll see.

 

[Saledolce]

As long as the shareholders don't come to my house and take my Olympus cameras and lenses...

if they do, I'll tell them it's all dead m43 stuff...