Nikon will broaden its market beyond cameras as it looks to fend off the growing threat of smartphone photography.
Nikon president Makoto Kimura has expressed a desire to develop products specifically designed to counter and capitalize on the rise of smartphone photography.
“Rapid expansion of mobile devices is a change in business environment given to us,” Kimura said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Our task going forward is to find an answer to that change.”
Apparently Nikon is looking for alternative ways to generate growth – they have assembled a new Nikon Imaging team that is working on secret products that will be available in less than 5 years:
“We want to create a product that will change the concept of cameras. It could be a non-camera consumer product.”
Although Nikon has been slow to innovate in some areas, the company was the first manufacturer of note to develop an Android-based camera; the Coolpix S800c disappointed upon release with slow performance and unimpressive image quality. Kimura’s comments suggest that the company has learned from that experience and plans to make a more pronounced effort in the future.
Cameras and compact cameras are increasingly merging. Samsung has announced its own hybrid camera, the Galaxy NX. The camera runs on Android and offers 4G support and interchangeable lenses.
The president Makoto Kimura did not comment on whether Nikon is working on a smart phone.
[Via]
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