Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

[OM] In today's news...

Subject: [OM] In today's news...
From: Stephen Troy <sctroy@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 14:05:58 -0500
Good news for the 4/3 digital format.
----------------------------

April 2005 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asia

The digital SLR market is currently dominated by name-brand firms Canon Inc
of Japan and Nikon Corp of Japan. Between them, these two companies
commanded 60% of the Japan market as of December 2004, by volume (see Fig).
Much of the reason for their current position is the strong demand by users
who want to use the interchangeable lenses from their older silver nitrate
film cameras in new digital cameras.

Matsushita's move to challenge these established market leaders is being
made by releasing a flagship product: a digital SLR camera, which it is
hoped will provide a major boost to the firm's digital camera business.
According to Nikkei Market Access, the company's global shipments for
digital cameras in 2004 reached only 3% by volume.

Development Speed

There are two key reasons why Matsushita decided to enter the digital SLR
market. The first is that consumers who either don't own silver nitrate
film SLRs or don't use them are likely to make up the majority of demand
for digital SLRs in the future. It is expected that this type of user will
be less likely to need cameras capable of using their existing
interchangeable lenses.

The second reason is that with the four thirds system and the proprietary
high-density packaging technology used in the DMC-FX7, Matsushita believes
it will be able to produce bodies and lenses smaller than those used on
silver nitrate cameras. In fact, many engineers in the field agree that the
four thirds system is technically superior for use in compact digital SLRs.
For Matsushita, the lack of compatibility with legacy interchangeable
lenses does not represent any obstacle to its entry into the field.

The development effort required to enter the digital SLR field was very
short - less than a year. As a source at the firm pointed out, though,
"Speed is essential to success in the digital appliance market. With the
assistance of Olympus Optical we will make full use of our accumulated
technical resources."

by Tomohiro Otsuki 


==============================================
List usage info:     http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies:        olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz