Nikon cuts forecast - again

[brunerww]

http://www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/pdf/2014/14second_all_e.pdf

"As the camera market shrunk due to sluggish business condition, the 1st half sales volume decreased in all product groups year on year. Thus, sales and income reduced ¥28.5 billion and ¥10.9 billion, respectively. After the estimated market size is revised due to lower-than-expected market condition, the forecasts for sales and operating income are lowered by ¥30 billion and ¥6 billion, respectively."

Reuters analysis here: Nikon drops sales forecast as high-end camera market stalls | Reuters

""Nikon Corp cut its full-year unit sales forecast for high-end cameras for the second quarter in a row on Thursday, as a dramatic fall in demand among photography hobbyists that began last year accelerated faster than expected. The company posted a 41 percent drop in operating profit to 21.9 billion yen ($222 million) for the six months ended September, saying overseas demand for pricey single-lens reflex models had remained depressed."

 

[hamlet]

No wonder. People are hurting all over the world.

 

[brunerww]

It's not the economy. DSLR sales have increased every year since 2008 - through the recession - until now. It's smartphone cameras working their way up the value chain. First, they hollowed-out the point and shoot market, now they are impacting sales of higher end cameras.

 

[astroNikon]

There was some article from some other thread I just read that went over the evolution of the smart phone, etc.
and not only the technology, but also how the people use that technology.

Now (including myself) I take a ton of pictures with my smart phone - it is just too convenient. These can get immediately put into places like Facebook/Flickr etc for immediate distribution.
So quantity/convenience is pushing quality to the side in some instances.

 

[Derrel]

Another way of looking at the numbers...

Nikon Financials Posted | byThom | Thom Hogan

 

[hamlet]

It's not the economy. DSLR sales have increased every year since 2008 - through the recession - until now. It's smartphone cameras working their way up the value chain. First, they hollowed-out the point and shoot market, now they are impacting sales of higher end cameras.

That makes sense. A lot of people use it even for vacation photos.

 

[TheFantasticG]

Now (including myself) I take a ton of pictures with my smart phone - it is just too convenient. These can get immediately put into places like Facebook/Flickr etc for immediate distribution.

Yup. Same here. I break out the DSLR when quality matters more... like my macro or lightning stuff.

 

[Overread]

I suspect that we will soon see auto upload to facebook/social media creep into DSLRs - at the very least at the entry level. It's part of life now and if people are not editing then the in-camera JPEG is more than good enough. It really only hinges on the DSLR manufacturers getting licence for 3G/4G or other similar services to allow transfer*

*Such a feature I could see also being of great use for journalist and reporting as well as sports photographers - no wait, no need for an assistant just instant upload to the publisher hot out the camera. So we might well see it creep up the range.