Covering Micro Four Thirds Cameras & Lenses

Olympus Russia is calling the reporting by the Japanese financial time that we reported the other day “fake news.” Saying:

“Friends, more recently, several Russian-speaking resources, citing foreign sources, came up with loud headlines that supposedly, Olympus is closing the photo business.

For our part, we want to say that this information is not true.

Currently, Olympus is undergoing a comprehensive transformation program to continue its development as a global medical company.

The photo business plays an important role as a technology driver for all Olympus business lines, developing advanced digital and network technologies that are also used in our medical and industrial business. We will continue to improve the technology in photography, paying particular attention to our main advantages: compactness of the system, exceptional image stabilization capabilities and high-quality lenses.”

I’m inclined to believe that the report is not only accurate but entirely likely if the camera division continues leading losses. Publicly held companies have a fiduciary duty that they must comply with and if they don’t activist shareholders can make the company miserable. For instance, the Fujifilm Xerox mergers has, so far, been blocked by activist Xerox shareholders even though it was a done deal at the beginning of last year.

One reason I think the Japanese financial times pointed out that they have a large number of foreign shareholders that are upset is that US shareholders have a history of getting litigious with companies that continue to violate their fiduciary duty. I think Olympus will have to turn around their camera business soon or possibly spin it off to a Chinese company that can carry on the Olympus brand, while the camera name has value.

It is odd that Olympus Japan hasn’t commented on the article since it quickly spread across western photography sites with a variety of interpretations. I would think Olympus Japan would come out strongly if the report was inaccurate. Time will tell if Olympus can hang on, but most photographers have been on death watch for Olympus for a while now. One thing is for sure increasingly expensive flagship m43 cameras isn’t going to help them turn the divisions financials around.

via Photorumors

Olympus hasn’t been doing well for a while now and their last set of financial results has shareholders extremely upset. Many Olympus shareholders happen to be foreigners and they are starting to make headway, which could eventually lead to Olympus either discounting their camera sales or going in a fundamentally new direction.

Digicame-info via biz-journal Japan is reporting the possibility which many feared might come after Olympus had a sad showing at Photokina 2018. Let’s hope Olympus can turn things around before shareholders go through greater lengths to exert their will.