Nikon Shutters Factory In China, Blames Smartphones

Do our smartphones have the potential to replace dedicated cameras? Perhaps when it comes to day-to-day photos, or if you want a quick snap of something, our smartphone cameras are more than capable of getting the job done. In fact we’ve seen many instances in which smartphone cameras can snap some really amazing photographs.

Unfortunately for some camera makers, it seems that this has had a negative effect on their business, such as Nikon who recently announced (via PetaPixel) that they will be shutting down its digital camera factory over in China in the Jiangsu province. According to Nikon, it seems that the rise of smartphones are to blame for the closure, which has impacted the demand for compact digital cameras.

According to Nikon, “In recent years […] due to the rise of smartphones, the compact digital camera market has been shrinking rapidly, leading to a significant decrease in operating rate at [Nikon Imaging (China)] and creating a difficult business environment.” Note that shutting down this plant does not mean that Nikon is in trouble.

The company’s DSLRs are still performing extremely well (difficulty in obtaining the recently launched D850 should speak volumes) and they also do have other factories in other parts of the world, but like we said, given that it is much more convenient to bring about your phone than an extra additional camera, negatively impacting the lower-end side of the camera business doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Photo-Video
Tags: Digital Cameras, Nikon