Fujifilm has released their first quarter results for this year and things are looking particularly well for the company’s imaging solutions division – the one we all care about. The report showed a significant increase in sales for the imaging division, especially compared to the 4th quarter of last year. Fuji is crediting strong sales in both Europe and the US of their [amazon_textlink asin=’B06Y66DM52′ text=’Instax Square’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’66db71cb-82ad-11e7-ae30-0d136f672b1f’] product. Which should honestly be no surprise, Instax has long been a cash cow for the company, and so of people came out bought the new square format version – which launched during Q1 of this year. But the Instax launch was not the only photo product doing well.
The report also specifically mentions strong [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MZARM64′ text=’GFX 50S’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’15960b37-82ac-11e7-9438-519abdcf26b3′] sales, Fujifilm’s mirrorless medium format camera system that also launched officially in Q1 of this year (though it had been announced back in Q4 of 2016). The GFX isn’t cheap either, so seeing that sales of the camera are high should be a relief for Fuji, and give some confidence to those who may be on the fence about it. It’s also going to account for a nice chunk of that increased sales figure for Q1.
Finally, the X-Series wasn’t the star of the show, but Fujifilm did mention that sales were also strong with the [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MUA5JGO’ text=’X100F’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1c44dc17-82ac-11e7-96dd-27217458d88a’] and [amazon_textlink asin=’B01N10DO3R’ text=’X-T20′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’26e1afa8-82ac-11e7-a8b7-e97a3685c628′], as well as lens sales to accompany the interchangeable lens options in the lineup. Overall, this shows that 2017 has started off really strong for Fujifilm and it will be interesting to see if the trend continues into Q2 and the rest of the year.
But what does this all mean? It means that Fujifilm is getting a vital influx of cash that they can use to put towards staying towards the front of the pack in the mirrorless segment. Their new generation of X-Series cameras have been doing well and many photographers are seeing their friends make the switch to Fujifilm – so this may well be just the beginning of the good news for Fuji.
Only time will tell. In the meantime, be sure to see more over at Fuji Rumors.