Olympus : Good and Bad News

Caussway · 6th June 2005

Source dpreview : Olympus to cut camera production cost

Olympus is to cut production for digital camera costs by 30% due to fierce competition, reports Bloomberg. The news follows earlier announcements that Olympus, the world's fourth largest camera manufacturer, is to cut 4,000 jobs, 13% of its global workforce. The long term aim is to recover some profit after Olympus reported its first ever annual loss last month. The job cuts will save the company around ¥3 bn. Bloomberg says Olympus expects shipments of digital cameras to rise from 8.9m to 9.5m this year with the release of two SLRs aimed at pros and serious amateurs.

Will this mean compromise in quality ?
1 Pro and 1 prosumer DSLR on the way ?

Merciless_Knight · 6th June 2005

Originally Posted by Caussway

Will this mean compromise in quality ?
1 Pro and 1 prosumer DSLR on the way ?

Quality, I think Oly still maintain its quality.

1 Pro and 1 Prosumer DSLR on the way...

I think a lot Oly users are going to "upgrade" their body liao...

tao · 6th June 2005

that means that Olympus will release a replacement to the E-1 and E-300 pretty soon.

also, but cutting cost, it should mean that there will not be any more expensive prosumers like the likes of the C8080WZ, which is expensive to manufacture.

my worry is that one will start getting Olympus cameras made in China and Thailand... that will definitely mean a drop in quality to a certain extent.

one of the reasons why I like Olympus so much is because of their superb and unrivalled built quality and that it because they build all their cameras in house in Japan without subcontracting out unlike Nikon and Canon.

serene · 6th June 2005

The E-300 is already made-in-China though the QC is excellent.
Cost cutting is not reallyt a bad thing, many companies in the likes of the GE, Walmart, etc do it all the time. Just that we hope Olympus will produce good results in years to come.

ykkok · 6th June 2005

Isn't this news reported some months ago? I think they refer fierce competition to digicam category.

Looking at some financial report, Olympus is doing pretty well in other areas.

And, don't you think that with the introduction of E-300, the 4/3 format start to get some recognition?

hammer_400 · 6th June 2005

Originally Posted by Caussway

Shis year with the release of two SLRs aimed at pros and serious amateurs.[/i]

i dun think e-300 replacement will be so soon.... more likely e-1 replacement and even more pro level dslr, to differentiate into 3 lines.... uber E and f2 range lens, e-1 level (pro-serious amateur range) with weather sealed f2.8 lens, and consumer dslr with cheaper kit lens...

fwiw, if they gonna release e300 replacement they would have said consumer dslr, not serious amateur dslr.

ricohflex · 6th June 2005

Originally Posted by tao

my worry is that one will start getting Olympus cameras made in China and Thailand... that will definitely mean a drop in quality to a certain extent.

one of the reasons why I like Olympus so much is because of their superb and unrivalled built quality and that it because they build all their cameras in house in Japan without subcontracting out unlike Nikon and Canon.

my few Mju IIs and Mju Vs proudly say Made in China. so what ?

nightpiper · 6th June 2005

if the new pro body is 16bits instead of 12 & its a FFT CCD, u will see my E1 post in B/S.

anyway, these days, everyone is heading the china way. like it or not, if u want it, u have to buy it. just like so many other electronics products, this is not going to stop in the next 10yrs, i reckon.

not to worry, i heard the china plants has triple QC & they r done in full, not partial or random. but then again, this only guarantees the product will work but doesn't guarantee the product will be lasting & reliable.... *sigh* well, like they say, if u dun change with times, u will be left behind.

Caussway · 7th June 2005

I certainly believe Oly quality but cost cutting may introduce QC issues
just my personal opinion.

Originally Posted by nightpiper

if the new pro body is 16bits instead of 12 & its a FFT CCD, u will see my E1 post in B/S.

anyway, these days, everyone is heading the china way. like it or not, if u want it, u have to buy it. just like so many other electronics products, this is not going to stop in the next 10yrs, i reckon.

not to worry, i heard the china plants has triple QC & they r done in full, not partial or random. but then again, this only guarantees the product will work but doesn't guarantee the product will be lasting & reliable.... *sigh* well, like they say, if u dun change with times, u will be left behind.

6th June 2005	#1
Caussway Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Singapore Posts: 995	Olympus : Good and Bad News Source dpreview : Olympus to cut camera production cost Olympus is to cut production for digital camera costs by 30% due to fierce competition, reports Bloomberg. The news follows earlier announcements that Olympus, the world's fourth largest camera manufacturer, is to cut 4,000 jobs, 13% of its global workforce. The long term aim is to recover some profit after Olympus reported its first ever annual loss last month. The job cuts will save the company around ¥3 bn. Bloomberg says Olympus expects shipments of digital cameras to rise from 8.9m to 9.5m this year with the release of two SLRs aimed at pros and serious amateurs. Will this mean compromise in quality ? 1 Pro and 1 prosumer DSLR on the way ?

6th June 2005	#3
tao Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Land of the Vegetables Posts: 2,955	that means that Olympus will release a replacement to the E-1 and E-300 pretty soon. also, but cutting cost, it should mean that there will not be any more expensive prosumers like the likes of the C8080WZ, which is expensive to manufacture. my worry is that one will start getting Olympus cameras made in China and Thailand... that will definitely mean a drop in quality to a certain extent. one of the reasons why I like Olympus so much is because of their superb and unrivalled built quality and that it because they build all their cameras in house in Japan without subcontracting out unlike Nikon and Canon.

6th June 2005	#4
serene Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 396	The E-300 is already made-in-China though the QC is excellent. Cost cutting is not reallyt a bad thing, many companies in the likes of the GE, Walmart, etc do it all the time. Just that we hope Olympus will produce good results in years to come.

6th June 2005	#5
ykkok Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 531	Isn't this news reported some months ago? I think they refer fierce competition to digicam category. Looking at some financial report, Olympus is doing pretty well in other areas. And, don't you think that with the introduction of E-300, the 4/3 format start to get some recognition?

6th June 2005	#8
nightpiper Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 1,795	if the new pro body is 16bits instead of 12 & its a FFT CCD, u will see my E1 post in B/S. anyway, these days, everyone is heading the china way. like it or not, if u want it, u have to buy it. just like so many other electronics products, this is not going to stop in the next 10yrs, i reckon. not to worry, i heard the china plants has triple QC & they r done in full, not partial or random. but then again, this only guarantees the product will work but doesn't guarantee the product will be lasting & reliable.... sigh well, like they say, if u dun change with times, u will be left behind.