Another one bites the dust: Konica-Minolta Bails

Konica-Minolta just announced that they are getting out of ALL camera

and film products. Not just Film, ALL cameras INCLUDING DIGITAL.

They said that they couldn't compete, so they are throwing in the

towel. A sad day.

It's not quite so sad. Sony are taking over the digital camera side, including Konica-Minolta's anti-shake technology.

 

If you need to know why it has happened, when did YOU last buy a K-M film body?

 

Regards, Ross

i actually got the maxxum 5 when it came out. it's a great body. i have great minolta lenses, too. remember, the equipment can't take the photos by itself...

My first and only experience with Minolta was my first digicam, the S414. That was enough...

Ross, FYI, I last bought a Minolta SRT-202 on ebay in the middle of last year. For $40 fully working.

Konica (formerly Konishiroku) made the first camera in Japan back in 1903. Minolta (formerly Chiyoda) also dates from the pre-war era -- made their first folder in 1929, the first Japanese TLR in 1937. Both were camera makers long before post-war upstarts like Pentax (formerly Asahi Optical) and Nikon (formerly Nippon Kogaku.) So very sad that they have to terminate the business that got them started in the first place.

 

And I thought the 4/3 system of Olympus, with their tiny sensors, would be the first to bite the dust...

 

I'll go grab some Konica film and stock them in a freezer. Japan's first photo paper in 1903, Japan's first colour film in 1940...Sigh, anyone remember their old brand name Sakura Film?

This was almost inevitable following their deal with Sony. After all, why would they create a

competitor?

 

It's too bad in a way, but K-M abandoned their pro market years ago. That spells a death

knell for any major photographic company.

Actually, the press release ( http://konicaminolta.com/releases/2006/0119_03_01.html ) on the website does not state they are stopping production/manufacture of camera, but simply no longer developing cameras while claiming they may produce/manufacture cameras and lenses for Sony.

 

Albeit, since a couple months earlier they announced a restructuring and now they are withdrawing, they may just announce that they are not going to even manufacture things for Sony in a couple months. ;o)

 

Albeit, seeing Sony step into the DSLR market might be a good thing if it fosters more competition. Sony already has an APS-C fixed lens camera, so perhaps they may the tech to make full frame DSLRs which would drive the price down a bit.

 

some thoughts,

 

Sean

"Konica-Minolta just announced that they are getting out of ALL camera and film products.

Not just Film, ALL cameras INCLUDING DIGITAL. They said that they couldn't compete, so

they are throwing in the towel. A sad day."

 

You know, I'm not sure how you get from their press release to 'throwing in the towel'.

 

Yes, they weren't profitable, yes they're stopping film production, yes, looks like most if

not all KM digital compacts won't survive at Sony, but no, they are not _quite_ out of the

camera market, and the partnership they are entering is not 'throwing in the towel'.

 

In fact it looks like it might be quite profitable. They've licensed a lens mount that Sony

could easily have cloned (indeed, Sony could have gone with the original plan, Nikon F),

they get to license their antishake technology, they are evidently continuing to design

cameras, and one would imagine they will get some sort of royalty on the cameras that

Sony will bring to a much larger market, much more quickly. In short, they get to be an

R&D shop in imaging technology, to one of the biggest players in the consumer electronics

market (which is where cameras belong now).

 

Meanwhile, film SLR users are in the same situation they knew they were in before, and yet

both film and DSLR users ought to be rather reassured by this news; their lens mount

survives. With Sony, perhaps the third party lens manufacturers and retailers might be

even more inclined to cover minolta stuff, which has been slowly slipping out of view.

 

I do agree that it's a crazy shame there won't be a camera with Konica or Minolta on it,

but, them's the breaks. Some perspective here; what's happening is a careful (and quite

clever) business decision, not a grand defeat.

They have thrown in the towel. They said they are halting all film and digital R&D, and

giving their technology away to Sony in exchange for money. That's called 'exiting a market'

which is in essence the same thing a boxer does when he's beat up and worn out from a

match with a superior opponent.

 

I think it's a tragedy, but as I said ago this news is the result of a process that started years

ago, when they stopped making pro level Maxxum cameras.

This is bad even for me, a Canon user. Competition makes price down.

 

If we think about those remaining, Pentax is the next vulnerable one. Their DSLR have even less selling point than Minolta, and they started with a smaller film SLR base than Minolta too. There is a chance that Samsung (or Casio) may buyout their camera line.

 

Olympus is in a better position with a much stronger product line. But they have also put in big investment that needs a lot of sales to recover. Hope the much needed E-2 will appear in PMA or real soon.

Someone in another thread mentioned another aspect of this: scanners. K-M has certainly made some good ones that have (I think) competed well. I wonder how support/service for these will be affected, or if they will be completely abandoned.

According to today's Wall Stree Journal, KM has sold all its camera production assets to Sony, and arranged that Sony will provide maintenance support to current users of KM camera equipment as part of the deal (for how long is not mentioned....). A Sony (not KM) spokesperson was quoted as saying that Sony (not KM) will continue design and production of d-SLR's (the first one to be released this summer)I suppose using the old KM "assets" at least for the time being.... It does not say that KM will continue to design stuff for Sony.

Hmmm, and i thought that the future would bring us a Sony camera in Nikon F mount with a Carl Zeiss lens and with Konica Minolta AS technology?

<P><I>...K-M abandoned their pro market years ago. That spells a death knell for any major photographic company.</I> I think that's really funny. The big bucks are in the consumer market, not the pro market. However, the Minolta, and lately the Konica Minolta, management have not really been interested in the photo business. They have been pursuing the more lucrative office equipment business.</P>

Not only is Minolta getting out of 35mm SLR, but also Nikon, and now Canon just announced they would NOT produce any new models in the film camera segment. Digital cams are outselling film cameras by a hefty ratio. Don't have the link handy, but go to Yahoo News, under Business, for the press release from Canon.