Olympus quits camera business after 84 years
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Image caption: Olympus was a major player in the film and early digital days, with products like this 1970s 35mm camera. Getty Images. Article: BBC News.
Olympus, once one of the world’s biggest camera brands, is selling off that part of its business after 84 years.
The firm said that despite its best efforts, the “extremely severe digital camera market” was no longer profitable.
The arrival of smartphones, which had shrunk the market for separate cameras, was one major factor, it said.
It had recorded losses for the last three years.
The Japanese company made its first camera in 1936 after years of microscope manufacture. The Semi-Olympus I featured an accordion-like fold-out camera bellows, and cost more than a month’s wages in Japan.
The company continued to develop the camera business over the decades, becoming one of the top companies by market share. […]
