247wallst.com: Olympus Will Disappear in 2014 — Displayed on Yahoo Finance

This has been floating around for a few days and IMO is just typical sensationalism. The reality is much more complicated. No doubt Olympus needs to stop the red ink in the photography division and whether is does so by becoming more tightly integrated with Sony or by eliminating the losing P&S market remains to be seen. That being said I recently read another posting where a senior Olympus executive admitted that the medical devices division (which is profitable) benefits greatly from the photographic division. IOW it may hurt the company more to close or sell the photographic division than would be apparent from the raw numbers.
 
They were counted out last year too. But even for the giants, Canon and Nikon, this is a tricky market. One market misstep and wham! Kobayashi Maru.

Seriously though, If Konica and Minolta exited the market (while still surviving as office copy machine suppliers) it could happen to Olympus also.

Sure don't want to see it happen, and I hope they make it through. I have been a fan of their cameras since I picked up an original viewfinder Pen and a couple of Pen F's in the early 70's.
 
Olympus would be better now if people would spend on current digital cameras instead of paying high dollar for film OM's and half-frame Pens.

Kind of a joke, but every joke is only partially a joke.
 
I work downtown Manhattan. The most popular camera I see with the tourist crowd is the Canon digital Rebel models, followed by Nikon's equivalent, P&Ss of various manufacturers, cell phones, and lastly some pro DSLRS. Every once and awhile I spot a film SLR.
 
btgc said:
Olympus would be better now if people would spend on current digital cameras instead of paying high dollar for film OM's and half-frame Pens.

Kind of a joke, but every joke is only partially a joke.
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I bought an Olympus DSLR when I could afford one. It is an E-410 kit purchased new but when the prices dropped. That was a big purchase for me. Sure, I'd like an OM-D but they are way out of my price range. That is not Olympus fault, just economic reality for this old retired guy. When the E-410 goes belly up I'll look around for a used OM-D but my budget will still be limited so the E-410 might be the last new purchase for me from Olympus.
 
......But I ride my bicycle a lot on weekends upstate from NYC, to a lot of local restaurants, parks and the like (I had a great clam po'boy on the Hudson this weekend!! http://www.ossiningboathouse.com/) and families shoot photos with phones. I simply never see cameras in casual use.

So I guess guess go 25 miles outside of the city and the cameras are gone.
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There's some truth to this. I live in rural northern Michigan and most people I see up here are using cell phones for their general photography. The iPhone 5 seems to be a popular choice. Only the "serious" photographers use a DSLR.

I kayak a lot on the summer and even I would rather use my cheap cell phone for the occasional pic rather than to lug around a separate, dedicated camera. Plus being in a kayak means getting wet. I wouldn't really care if I soaked my cell phone, but would be bothered if I soaked my digital camera.

Jim B.
 
kbg32 said:
Maybe their former CEO should hand back his "golden umbrella".
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Golden umbrellas suck when a CEO is dismissed for poor performance and gets a big payoff. This is a case where the CEO was pushed out for revealing the entire previous management's systematically unethical performance and trying to rectify it. Big difference.
 
As I continue my film journey, I've grown to appreciate Olympus cameras, everything from the Pen EE to the Trip 35 to the XA and finally to the OM2n. The Olympus OMD is one I eventually would like to own as well.

I hope they pull through.
 
Smart phones & tablet computers are changing the camera industry. The unit volume is with these tools. Traditional camera mfgrs. that relied on producing volume products are struggling. Pros and other aficionados who like the tools won't keep the factories humming.

As Bob Dylan wrote, "for the times they are a changin!"
 
I have an acceptable solution here:

With Olympus's skill in optics and imaging they could manufacture a dedicated film scanner that would make Plustek's latest effort look woeful ... which it almost is anyway!

Ahh ... in my perfect world I could scan film from my beautiful OM-1 and wonderful Zuiko optics with an Olympus scanner! 😀
 
zuiko85 said:
I bought an Olympus DSLR when I could afford one. It is an E-410 kit purchased new but when the prices dropped. That was a big purchase for me. Sure, I'd like an OM-D but they are way out of my price range. That is not Olympus fault, just economic reality for this old retired guy. When the E-410 goes belly up I'll look around for a used OM-D but my budget will still be limited so the E-410 might be the last new purchase for me from Olympus.
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Not assaulting anyone, though. I could buy newer digital gear but I'm still using 5-10 years old models as they just work and price of new stuff drops at a rate which makes me postponing purchase of new just for privilege of smelling fumes of previously unopened box. I put difference I save into my family and healtcare.
 
btgc said:
Not assaulting anyone, though. I could buy newer digital gear but I'm still using 5-10 years old models as they just work and price of new stuff drops at a rate which makes me postponing purchase of new just for privilege of smelling fumes of previously unopened box. I put difference I save into my family and healtcare.
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Post of the day for me ....... 🙂

Way too sensible! 😀
 
Olympus have only a 7% share of the digi-camera market, but they have more than a 50% share of the worldwide endpscope market, as well as a large share of the microscope market. It is the medical instuments division that is attracting the likes of Sony.

Olympus will not disappear, as their name brand is the largest in the medical instruments industry. Of course, they may stop the manufacture of cameras if they are taken over by a competitor.
 
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