Photoscala has crunched the latest financial results from Olympus and they don't look that good. Net sales are down 4.1%, net income dropped 84.5% compared to 2010. Here are the details for the imaging division:
| Fiscal year | Market volume (In millions) |
Olympus camera sales (In millions) |
Olympus Market Share |
| 05/06 | 67,2 | 8,4 | 12.5% |
| 06/07 | 81,5 | 9,6 | 11.8% |
| 07/08 | 106,3 | 11,3 | 10.6% |
| 08/09 | 112,8 | 10,0 | 8.9% |
| 09/10 | 113,6 | 9,0 | 7.9% |
| 10/11 | 121,5 | 8,1 | 6.7% |
Sales by region:
| Region | Change in sales year 10/11 compared to 10/09 |
| Japan | -5.50% |
| North America | -36.20% |
| Europe | -29.90% |
| Asia / Oceania | -24.40% |
| Other | -4.30% |
| Total | -24.90% |
Sales and operating income for Olympus imaging division:
The full Olympus financial reports is available here.
Sony reported the worst loss in 16 years: $3.2 billion for their fiscal year ending March 2011. The complete Sony reports are available here.
In comparison, Nikon was able to show an increased sales and income in 2011.
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- Fujifilm may re-enter the interchangeable lens camera market, aims to become #3
- Sony looks for 2nd place in the interchangeable lens cameras market in Korea
- Financial results from the major photography companies are out
- Olympus PEN Pro version is 2-3 years away
17 Comments
“Losing”
well deserved for all that crap going out of them
sony’s at least trying, while olympus with their endless iteration of P&S quality and size of small DSLR somehow never get that customers dont care.
well deserved for all that crap going out of them
sony’s at least trying, while olympus with their endless iteration of P&S quality and size of small DSLR somehow never get that customers dont care.
It is hard to develop a new system. How to convince people buy 4/3 DSLR if the APS-C DSLR is sold in same cost? Without other lens manufacture supporting, I think Olympus should cut the 4/3 DSLR development. Focus on M4/3 EVIL & DC in future.
Sony put many resourse in R&D and marketing. They actually make considerable growth in market share, so they are not desperate as Olympus. If they do less duplicate models (A33 & A55, A290 & A390, A560 & A580), they can save more money.
Let me quote info from Sony Consolidated Results for the Fourth Quarter ended March 31, 2011:
“In the CPD segment, sales decreased due to lower sales of products such as components and compact digital
cameras. This decrease was partially offset by higher sales of interchangeable single lens cameras.”
- So from all the stuff in Sony Imaging division – NEX and reflex cameras are these which try to hold everything working.
This makes sense. Thank You. I haven’t read that carefully, but only the % of DSLR/EVIL market share. ^^
Wonder if they will start crying that they are losing sales because people are downloading photos for free over the internet. – hey that excuse floated for the music biz, then video guys caught on so why not ?? Or better yet, camera sales are down because the number of photo site on the internet has risen dramatically. Instead of buying cameras to take photos, people are downloading great photos for free over the internet. Next step will be ban photo websites and sue anyone who visits a photo site and views a photo – that should bring back camera sales just as it did for the music biz —-
Buck up lads! Ganbatta ne!
“Pictures” is not the camera division but Sony Pictures Entertainment, their movie production activity.
Sales of cameras (compact cameras, NEX and DSLR/DSLT) are included in the “Consumer, Professional & Devices (CPD)” segment. In this segment, sales have increased and operating income is back to positive.
Earnings release http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/10q4_sony.pdf
Presentation slides http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/10q4_sonypre.pdf
I thought this was just a bad translation of their camera business. How can they lose money with their movies division?
Have you heard of Hollywood accounting? The numbers are always cooked on movies to make it look like they lose money.
And people say Samsung NX is not longer…
Considering how horrible movies are these days with the plots about retards, forced product placement shots and military promotion propaganda. No wonder the movie bizz might be failing a bit.
I can imagine the days when Olympus was planing to enter the digital SLR bussiness. They did calculations that “ooh large sensors are pretty expensive. How about we make smaller sensors and then sell them on the notion that small is lighter” “oh and thanks to the lenses can be smaller and hence less expensive to make” “BLING BLING BLING, lets do that we win in every way. LOL well it turns out that they missed one key aspect called Image quality.
On problem is Olympus is not considered a professional camera, thus many consumers go with Canon or Nikon. If consumers don’t care about the “professional glow”, then they look at the consumer electronics giants – Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. Oly is in a bad spot.
I’d suggest they take their lead in micro 4/3 camera and work it. Would you buy a m4/3 clone of a Leica M9? Sales of the Fujifilm X100 suggest there is a large market for a pure photographer’s tool. Oly needs a flagship camera that all the pros (or prosumers) carry and recommend. If Fuji launches a X100 with interchangeable lenses, and if Sony gets their mirrorless camera right, Oly will continue to hurt.
It seems Oly can’t make up their mind. Are they a consumer camera company (P/S and easy-to-use cameras) or a professional camera company (real controls, like dials).
I’ve been considering buying a m4/3 to use my Leica rangefinder lenses, but the camera just doesn’t feel right or handle well. I expect more from Oly, but not from Panasonic/Sony/Samsung. If Canon and/or Nikon introduce APC or FF mirrorless cameras with pro controls, it’s game over.
Oh yeah – no viewfinder on the Oly E-P series. I couldn’t believe they’d be so stupid. An E-P2 with a big viewfinder (X100 again) would be a huge help.
Fujifilm is sailing off with Oly’s gold, because Oly left it all on the beach.
What they don’t talk about is that the market has grown since 2006, so 6.7% is still a huge chunk!