Konica Minolta withdraw from camera business

[daveyuk]

This has to be the biggest and most shocking news before the upcoming PMA show, Konica Minolta has today announced that it is withdrawing from the camera and photo business. They will be transferring assets related to their camera business to Sony who will continue to develop digital SLR's based around the Konica Minolta lens mount. Konica Minolta it appears will continue to work with Sony (a relationship announced last year) in the development of digital SLR's and lenses but they will not be branded as or be sold by Konica Minolta. Full announcement and details of the Sony asset transfer inside

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06011901konicaminoltaout.asp

 

[Arkady]

Bl00dy Chunder...

Never massive in the UK, but very popular in the US.
Just goes to show that digi cameras are killing off the old guard. The field is thinning out...

 

[Warspite]

Definately a surprise - another victim of the battering between Canon and Nikon I guess, so now Samsung is taking on the Pentax mantle and looks like Sony is taking KMs, could be a war brewing.

 

[Arkady]

Sony's massive so they'll weather any storms brewing - the big one will be between Canon and Nikon - Canon also have their other electrical groups to buoy them up.

 

[Warspite]

Should definately be interesting, not so much of a Sony fan these days, but they are renowned for their R&D, Nikon being part of the huge Mitsubishi Corp. and Canon as mentioned having various other divisions, and Samsung being very big in producing alot of the components used by the other three, could be interesting times ahead.

 

[Arkady]

Agreed - it probably wont be decided at the end-user level, but at the other end - something like a Mitsubishi-Samsung merger - that would eventually re-draw the boundaries.