# Nikon Financials



## AlanF (May 28, 2020)

Nikon has posted its financials https://www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/
Pretty awful. The imaging market is in a real decline, Nikon's performance worse than expected, and it's mainly for before the covid period.


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## Ozarker (May 29, 2020)

AlanF said:


> Nikon has posted its financials https://www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/index.htm
> Pretty awful. The imaging market is in a real decline, Nikon's performance worse than expected, and it's mainly for before the covid period.


The link doesn't work.


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## AlanF (May 29, 2020)

CanonFanBoy said:


> The link doesn't work.


I’ve pasted it again and it now works https://www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 29, 2020)

They blame it on covid-19. I think its right, Nikon was hit hard by the shutdown in China which occurred well before March 31. They did manage a 1.1% of sales profit, which is good considering the situation. However, Imaging lost a ton of money, it was industrial sales that saved them.

Each year, they seem to have a new plan to recover. I suspect that stockholders are getting very tired of the same old story.

Also, there is this flag note: Distributors suspended who sold a lot of mid and high end cameras?? 

Imaging Products approx.¥4.0B Due to product mix change by suspension of distributors mainly selling mid and high-end cameras, and
(Operating profit) delay of launch in main products including professional use products by stagnation of the supply chain. So, they lost 4 billion yen due to suspending distributors. That sounds like a great business plan!


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## Del Paso (May 29, 2020)

Canon's fault.
They shouldn't have introduced so many convincing new RF lenses, nor announced the R 5.
Nevertheless, I'd hate to see Nikon disappear from the market, still remembering the extaordinary F2 camera...


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## SecureGSM (May 29, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> They blame it on covid-19. I think its right, Nikon was hit hard by the shutdown in China which occurred well before March 31. They did manage a 1.1% of sales profit, which is good considering the situation. However, Imaging lost a ton of money, it was industrial sales that saved them.
> 
> Each year, they seem to have a new plan to recover. I suspect that stockholders are getting very tired of the same old story.
> 
> ...



++++ Imaging Products approx.¥4.0B Due to product mix change by suspension of distributors mainly selling mid and high-end cameras, ...

A.M.: Likely is just a poor quality translation from Japanese to English. meaning: distribution was on hold.. paused due to pandemic, etc.


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## Antono Refa (May 29, 2020)

Camera manufacturers are going to have a hard time, regardless of covid-19.

The digital revolution is over, and the market is going to get into a new balance:

1. The supplies market (film, chemical, paper) is nearly gone.

2. The compact cameras market is nearly gone, as smartphones took over it. 

3. Cameras & lenses are so good, photographers can go back to upgrading every 5 years or more. Manufacturers can expect photographers to have an extra upgrade to MILC before that sets in. Then they would lose on the rate of mechanical failures going down. A saving grace is the world population has increased significantly in the last 20 years, so there would be more photographers buying high end cameras.

I think the number of manufacturers is going to shrink, possibly just by companies closing their camera departments.


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## AlanF (May 29, 2020)

Antono Refa said:


> Camera manufacturers are going to have a hard time, regardless of covid-19.
> 
> The digital revolution is over, and the market is going to get into a new balance:
> 
> ...


Nikon is banking on MILC because that's where they see the growth, as does Canon. It will be bad for all of us if Nikon goes to the wall as Canon has shown in recent years that it needs competition to stir it into action.


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## SecureGSM (May 29, 2020)

AlanF said:


> Nikon is banking on MILC because that's where they see the growth, as does Canon. It will be bad for all of us if Nikon goes to the wall *as Canon has shown in recent years that it needs competition to stir it into action.*


it seems that it was not the Nikon in the MILC market who prompted Canon to mobilise 
There is plenty of competition apart from Nikon in the current market to keep Canon on their toes.


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## AlanF (May 29, 2020)

SecureGSM said:


> it seems that it was not the Nikon in the MILC market who prompted Canon to mobilise
> There is plenty of competition apart from Nikon in the current market to keep Canon on their toes.


Nikon makes lenses as well as cameras, and there cameras other than MILC.


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## BillB (May 29, 2020)

AlanF said:


> Nikon is banking on MILC because that's where they see the growth, as does Canon. It will be bad for all of us if Nikon goes to the wall as Canon has shown in recent years that it needs competition to stir it into action.


We will know more when we learn what is inside the R5, but it seems to me that Canon’s entry into FF Mirrorless has been based on a long term development strategy based on dual pixel technology that includes new sensors and processors. Canon may have seemed unresponsive, but it has been playing a long term game.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 29, 2020)

SecureGSM said:


> A.M.: Likely is just a poor quality translation from Japanese to English. meaning: distribution was on hold.. paused due to pandemic, etc.



This was a Nikon release, not a translation by some other party or service. Nikon and others normally release their statements in English as well as Japanese, if they can't translate their financial statement correctly, they have a big problem.


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## SecureGSM (May 29, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> This was a Nikon release, not a translation by some other party or service. Nikon and others normally release their statements in English as well as Japanese, if they can't translate their financial statement correctly, they have a big problem.


Yeah, have a reading of some of Sigma announcements. They are quite sketchy from a language perspective.


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## SecureGSM (May 29, 2020)

AlanF said:


> Nikon makes lenses as well as cameras, and there cameras other than MILC.


Dslr business Will be becoming insignificant in short to mid term. Non diversified vendors will continue struggling. Nikon is the least diversified major vendor. Canon, Sony, Panasonic are well diversified. Pentax, Nikon brands are at risk.


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## unfocused (May 29, 2020)

Antono Refa said:


> Camera manufacturers are going to have a hard time, regardless of covid-19.
> 
> The digital revolution is over, and the market is going to get into a new balance:
> 
> ...


Agree. But what you are describing is the market that Nikon and Canon lived with for decades, before digital. 

My hope is that both companies draw on their experience from those many years and always knew that the early digital years were unsustainable.

We shall see.


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## Antono Refa (May 29, 2020)

unfocused said:


> Agree. But what you are describing is the market that Nikon and Canon lived with for decades, before digital.



Canon used to make quite a few compact cameras in the past, e.g. sure shot line in the film era and the PowerShot A & S lines in the digital era. That segment is practically gone, and that makes a difference in profits.


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## Antono Refa (May 29, 2020)

AlanF said:


> Nikon is banking on MILC because that's where they see the growth, as does Canon.



Once upon a time Canon released xxxD & xxD cameras every 12-18 months (10-40D, 300-650D), as the market would upgrade cameras quick enough. The 800D was replaced after 3 years, and the 80D was replaced after >3 years.

MILCs will be there in the next release. Nobody's going to upgrade an R5 after two years for 5 more MP, or 16K video. So sales will go back to film era levels.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 29, 2020)

unfocused said:


> Agree. But what you are describing is the market that Nikon and Canon lived with for decades, before digital.
> 
> My hope is that both companies draw on their experience from those many years and always knew that the early digital years were unsustainable.
> 
> We shall see.



I think they know that, every financial report for several years has mentioned that for both companies. Canon moved into security cameras and medical imaging in a big way. They also do very well with printers. 

Nikon has already had substantial industrial sales and some medical.

Both Canon and Nikon have moved their point and shoot cameras upscale and those sell well.

However, as with a maturing smartphone market, user's don't see a new model with few improvements as being worth the cost and are deferring purchases as long as possible.

Canon stated in one of their shareholder financial reports that they wanted to get mirrorless DSLR's out in large numbers because users buying new lenses was a very profitable part of the business. That's likely why we have seen the R and the RP selling for lower than expected prices. I think the R5 may also come in a bit lower.


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## Deleted member 381342 (May 30, 2020)

The Nikon reports have made me a wee bit wary of investing into my Z glass, which is a shame as it makes a great little bring everywhere camera when my Canon stuff is all huge(deliberately so).


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