A week after the disaster in Japan, the situation does not look very good. Companies continue to issue warnings about halted production and damaged plants. Fortunately there has not been any life loss reported from the major photo equipment manufacturers. Those are the latest updates:
B&H sent out the following email today to all Fujifilm FinePix X100 pre-orders:
B&H received the following note regarding availability of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 today from Fujifilm USA. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. We are mindful, though, of Japan's human tragedy, which is ongoing and will remain so for some time. Lives are lost and families are homeless on a scale which seems, from news reports, as great or greater than any natural disaster in memory.
FUJIFILM FinePix X100 Statement
March 16, 2011. Due to the March 11th earthquake that affected northeast Japan, the factory responsible for production of the new Fujifilm FinePix X100 digital camera has been temporarily shut down due to safety concerns. FUJIFILM is currently assessing the factory conditions as well as accessibility via domestic logistics and working to determine the potential impact on the X100 market availability and initially scheduled release dates. FUJIFILM is making every effort to quickly gather the information needed to provide an accurate update to our retail partners and consumers. FUJIFILM appreciates your patience and will provide a formal update as soon as possible.
Today I also received an update from Samyang:
Delta Company, the sole representative and distributor of Samyang products for Europe announces there may be some temporary shortage of Samyang lenses in late April and early May. This is due to suspension in deliveries of optical lenses produced in Japan by factories located on the area destroyed by the Tsunami wave which hit Japanese shores on 11th of March 2011. We will be informing our customers about any changes concerning availability of our products.
A recap on other companies can be found here.
I already mentioned on NikonRumors that the best way to help is to donate directly to the Japanese Red Cross. From the US, the easiest way to make a donation is through Google.
Related posts:
- Fujifilm Japan confirms a second X100 firmware update
- The next Fuji X100 firmware update to be released in the next two weeks?
- Canon takes a financial hit after the disaster in Japan
- Fuji X100 now shipping in the US
- FujiFilm acknowledges delays in X100 shipments, promises urgent production capacity Increase
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Japanese electronics sector faces extended supply woes…
“Canon said it would suspend production at one of its main plants in Oita, southern Japan, blaming problems with parts supply and distribution.
Nikon said the suspension of its precision equipment plants in north Japan could eventually disrupt production at factories closer to the capital, which could run out of parts.
In Tokyo, transport woes hampered operations. Sony said only 120 of its 6,000 staff were working at its main Tokyo office building Wednesday, due to management concerns over rail service disruptions.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/us-japan-quake-companies-idUSTRE72F4ND20110316
14 Reasons Japan’s Economic Collapse Has Begun
http://seekingalpha.com/article/258329-14-reasons-japan-s-economic-collapse-has-begun
Shipping ports damaged.
Roads and bridges damaged.
Power lines damaged.
Airports damaged.
Water purification systems damaged.
Rail system damaged.
Oil Refineries damaged.
Nuclear power plants damaged.
Non-Nuclear power plants damaged.
Food production plants damaged.
Non-Food production plants damaged.
Huge number of homes damaged or destroyed.
And on and on and on…..every area of modern life has been damaged.
Hundreds of thousands have lost everything and live on government help and support.
Then there is the potential for a killer blow due to nuclear radiation release.
And they are talking about a huge earthquake aftershock still to come.
This is not gonna gets fixed next week, nor next month, nor next year. Those who think that production will be back shortly are living in LaLa Land. The above article only touches on some of the problems that Japan faces.
As long as B&H, Adorama and many more stores stop vulturing the prices of camera gear then we can wait patiently for stock to come back whenever the good people of Japan recover from the disasters that have brought so much sadness to their lives.
My prayers go to the people of Japan.