Olympus underlines once more that they have no plans to sell the camera business and already worked on an “exciting roadmap”

In the race of rumors about which camera manufacturer will fail first Olympus seems to be on the first place within the “rumor world”. Like I said many times some websites fail to understand that Olympus will not easily let go the camera business for multiple reasons:

1) It’s part of their history
2) It’s a Japanese company, they fight for their business (unlike Samsung did with the NX system)
3) The MFT user basis is still among the largest  communities
4) Olympus just made the big one time investment to move their manufacturing out of China. They will now be able to produce gear for less cost.

Here is the official Olympus statement published by Photofocus answering the Bloomberg article:

“As announced in our Corporate Strategy, Olympus is further focusing on our Medical business and follows the strong ambition for all of our businesses to be profitable and contribute to our overall business objectives. In that regard, we are continuously evaluating our overall portfolio, as announced in our Corporate Strategy on November 6, 2019.

“For Imaging, however, we currently have no plans to sell the business. The task is therefore to stabilize and strengthen its market position. To achieve that, we are actively running marketing activities, and have already established a clear and exciting product roadmap for the coming months and years. We are actively pursuing future technology developments that will enhance photography and video for creators. Furthermore, Imaging is and will continue to be an important technology and innovation driver for our other businesses.

“Our Imaging business features a unique product portfolio. Olympus products are compact and lightweight, feature market leading image stabilization and autofocus. Many of our high-end products are also splash-proof. No other product offers customers this level of optical excellence paired with the highest mobility.

“Just last month we launched our new OM-D E-M5 Mark III – a light yet feature packed addition to our semi-pro camera portfolio, inheriting pro-features like a high precision AF from our OM-D E-M1 Mark II model. Furthermore, we have announced the development of M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150-400mm f/4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO earlier this year to be launched by next year. Customers can follow our break-free campaign on various channels and worldwide.”

Photofocus writes:

After reading both the Bloomberg article as well as Olympus’ statement, it’s pretty clear that Olympus is in this for the long haul. Without a direct quote from Takeuchi in the Bloomberg article, the article at best creates another rumor, and lacks the journalistic integrity necessary in these types of situations.

Like I said, big claims need big prove. And so far we got nothing else than rumors and a Bloomberg article not quoting directly any statement. If you ask me…other camera companies are potentially  in a much worse shape than Olympus…