Photography

  Thursday, 27 April 2006

Digital trend challenges camera makers < 2:08:52 PM>.

Recent retreats by leading brands underline how the industry has turned upside-down
[Via The Globe and Mail - Technology News]

"Camera buffs were stunned in January when Konica Minolta Holdings Inc., which traces its roots to 1873, said it was quitting the camera business altogether — digital and film — and selling its digital assets to rival Sony Corp.

Nikon Corp. said the same month it would stop making seven of its nine film cameras and concentrate on digital models.

Fuji Photo Film Co., which plans to cut 5,000 jobs, changed directions last month announcing it would spend nearly $8.5-million (U.S.) to diversify into pharmaceuticals.

Europe's biggest film maker, Germany's AgfaPhoto GmbH, couldn't adapt at all; it's now bankrupt and liquidated.

Meanwhile, Antonio Perez, who is leading Eastman Kodak Co. through a four-year digital remake, has warned that Kodak, the pioneer of point-and-shoot photography, is now "at the worst possible place" after a $1.03-billion third-quarter loss."