Who will rescue Nikon?

[CameraQuest]

What is your best guess for Nikon's rescue?

by investment?
by buy out?
by take over?

or dissolution?

or will Nikon be able to pull this out on their own?

No jokes -- folks losing their jobs is not a joking matter

With Nikon's rich history and many fans,
I can't personally imagine Nikon will not continue in some form.

Guess Choices are in no particular order

 

[Mackinaw]

Probably a buy-out. The company may be tanking, but the name alone is worth a lot. Somebody will want that, if anything.

Jim B.

 

[maddoc]

Toshiba is in much more trouble after they took over Westinghouse Nuclear Technology: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/business/toshiba-chairman-nuclear-loss.html

So Nikon's fate might be off the radar to some extent here in Japan.

 

[nasmformyzombie]

General Motors was bailed out in 2009 by the US government because too many jobs were at stake in a failing economy. But there were causalities within GM. Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Saturn were lost. An established name really means nothing anymore.

Camera sales have been tanking for several years with no chance of a rebound. A shrinking market means a shrinking number of participants in said market.

 

[Faintandfuzzy]

Why does Nikon need a rescue?

 

[Huss]

I can't see any of the other camera mfgs rescuing them, as none, I repeat none of them are making money selling digital cameras *. They are all propped up by other divisions. Sony's imaging division is doing the best out of them, but that is from sensor and CCTV sales.

*Fuji's camera division is being bailed out by the Instax film and cameras. It is a huge seller for them.

Nikon already makes a lot of its stuff in China, so perhaps a Chinese buy out? But they are smart business people too, and unless they can see a way to turn around a dieing industry..

It seems that Leica is the only one that has this figured out, with their instant camera, the SL and the M10. But once the feeding frenzy of the M10 has settled, what then?

 

[jarski]

My guess they rescue themselves. No doubt it will be hard but doable. Looks that cameras are evolving to types that produce images which smartphones cannot imitate. Only then there is motivation to buy them. Smaller markets and and less potential customers, but still there nevertheless.

 

[kxl]

Nikon will become the optics/imaging/photo arm of a multi-product, multi-platform electronics conglomerate like.... wait for it....

SAMSUNG

 

[Robert Lai]

They may well join other former camera makers, such as Konica, Minolta, Yashica, Nicca, Leotax, etc. Creative destruction is part of the business cycle. Look at the mass extinction that occurred to the German camera industry in the 60s and 70s - Voigtlander (the original one, not Cosina), Zeiss, Exakta, etc. Leica themselves barely survived the 1990 and early 2000s.

I have my Nikon F, F2 and F3. There are lots of cameras around to cannibalize parts from if repairs are needed.

 

[lynnb]

They will probably be a (much?) smaller company after this, but I haven't yet seen that a bailout is necessary unless they continue to make poor product (APS-C lens line gaps) and pricing (Nikon 1) decisions, and get their marketing and service support (Nikon USA) wrong. That's according to the best outsider ongoing analysis I've seen, by Thom Hogan.

They still have some of the best cameras around IMO (D810, D500, D7200).

 

[kshapero]

Why does Nikon need a rescue?

Exactly. Although their recent announcements are shocking, in the world of finance, corporations layoff folks all the time. And besides companies go under all the time. Laws of nature. Yes it would be a titanic loss to us. But that's life, that is, unless some one comes along.

 

[Waus]

To understand the financial situation of Nikon, please read these articles of Thom Hogan:
http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/dl-turns-out-to-mean-dead.html

http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/the-nikon-q3-financials.html

 

[Peter Jennings]

I agree with those who think they should manage their own downsizing. They should develop a clear philosophy and focus on being a producer of professional-grade optical equipment. phase out the consumer and "prosumer" product lines. Many amateurs will still buy pro gear.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

AFAIK, not unlike ZEISS, photography wasn't and isn't their main field.

I'm sure they'll remain very important in their core role as
— supplier for science, particularly microscopy and ophthalmology
— supplier for military goods

So there's really no need to speculate that one must «rescue» them.

 

[Dralowid]

Olympus, Toshiba and others seem to illustrate some sort of cultural failure within these companies at board level.

Close your eyes and you could imagine that they have the same ailments as some of the long gone British motorcycle industry...

Maybe.

I'm not even going to mention M5, CL, *****flex etc etc, ever.

 

[gavinlg]

I don't think they need bailing or saving, but they will if they don't consolidate their product lines and start bringing out cameras with a clear, brave, unified ethos. Right now their lineup is literally all over the place, and they STILL don't have anything of a mirrorless lineup. If you're worried about cannibalising your DSLRs with a pro level mirrorless camera, don't worry Nikon - Sony and Fujifilm will do it for you.

Basically - lose the low end of the market. Compacts and small sensor mirrorless. Focus on the high end prosumer and pro market.

 

[valdas]

There is nothing in their financials that would require any immediate rescue action or bailout. Making loss (in one of their business lines) or losing sales is not equivalent of being insolvent or having liquidity problems. In the long term - yes, they need to think what's their survival strategy or strategy to re-establish themselves as a market leader, but this is "business as usual" for any company. Nikon is not going out of business in the immediate future and I don't see why they would need an investor? They have stable positive free cash flows and stable debt equity ratio.

 

[xayraa33]

Apple should buy Nikon and water the name down in their iphone use, Nikkor lenses on iphones etc as a primo option. Cameras and optics on cell phones/ mobile phones will get even more deluxe and optic choice will be astounding in the future.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

As of 13:55 CET, 33.33% say «Chinese camera or lens maker».

Errrrrrrm, are you sure?

I mean, you know what «national security» is, don't you?

Is it a good idea if a foreign power gains access to, amongst others, YOUR military technology?

I wouldn't say so …

 

[daveleo]

My guess is a China-based company will buy out Nikon camera & lens division.

I think Nikon's strategic planning / concept design thinking is too stuck-in-the-mud to be revitalized.