Last Updated on 10/30/2017 by Chris Gampat
Things aren’t looking so hot for Nikon right now…
Nikon has been in some very deep water recently; and it’s unfortunate that, in some ways, they’re still not changing to adapt to a newer market. According to Nikon Rumors, the company is shuttering one of their camera manufacturing plants. The reason why has to do with what some may call mismanagement and delayed reactions that the traditional camera manufacturing market has been facing for many years now. Some analysts may blame Apple; but others may blame these companies for being way too slow to adapt.
According to the press release:
“Nikon Imaging (CChina)) Co., Ltd. (NNIC) was established in June, 2002 in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, and manufactured digital cameras and lens units for digital cameras. In recent years, however, due to the rise of smartphones, the compact digital camera market has been shrinking rapidly, leading to a significant decrease in operating rate at NIC and creating a difficult business environment.”
Nikon has been making moves to improve and fix their business though. Earlier this year, they said a mirrorless full frame camera was coming. They also said they wouldn’t continue to pursue the DL series of compacts that were plagued with issues. I have to give them credit: they’re trying. But if Nikon is to really have a better chance at surviving, that camera needs to come out next year at Photokina. This year at Photo Plus, Nikon took a backseat to Canon and Sony on the showroom floor in terms of both space and placement. In addition to that, many companies are of the belief that, in 2019, mirrorless cameras will overtake the DSLR market–finally.
It’s no secret the industry is in a giant state of flux right now. Instagram marketing and Facebook marketing are the hip trend that are arguably on their way out. But point and shoot cameras? I mean, why would you even really try to make one with a small sensor any more? Superzooms do relatively well, but they’re not DSLRs at all. Many point and shoot and compact cameras have large sensors these days. Many people who know nothing about cameras end up buying a DSLR or mirrorless camera and shooting on auto–there are tons of them that send me messages. The folks who buy the premium compacts are seasoned photographers who want to slim down their kit. And to that end, Nikon will also need to adapt.
You can read the full press release over at Nikon Rumors.