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Posts Tagged ‘Increase’

Nikon Q2 financial results: better-than-expected revenue with plans to cut expenses and increase focus on higher-end cameras, lenses

07 Nov

Nikon has released financial results for the second quarter (Q2) of its 2021 fiscal year, which starts April 1 (2020) and ends March 31 (2021), revealing a larger operating loss than forecasted despite higher-than-expected revenue.

As tends to be the case with financial results, there are plenty of nuances hidden within the broader numbers, but what is clear is Nikon’s Imaging Products Business is going through changes, not unlike Canon, which is also transitioning its product line and production facilities away from DSLRs and towards mirrorless.

Q2 Financial Highlights by segment. We have highlighted the Imaging Products Business, with the last column being the Q2 FY2021 results.

Starting with the Q2 results for Nikon’s Imaging Products Business, Nikon reports operating revenue of ¥39.3B ($ 372M) and an operating loss of ¥19.3B ($ 184.3M), down ¥12.4B and ¥17.8B, respectfully year-over-year (YoY) for Q2. Nikon further breaks down unit sales in the Imaging Products Business division, noting it sold 240K interchangeable lens cameras (ILC), 70K compact cameras and 390K interchangeable lenses. These numbers are down 31%, 73% and 29%, respectively, YoY for Q2.

An overview of the revenue and operating profit/loss for H1 FY2021 by segment.

Looking at the first half (H1) of Nikon’s Imaging Products Business’ FY2021, the company reported revenue of ¥64.4B ($ 615M) and an operating loss of ¥27.4B ($ 261M). This puts revenue above Nikon’s ¥55B forecast, but it seems expenses outpaced gains, as the company had previously forecast an operating loss of only ¥20B. Unit sales for H1 were also down across the board, with 380K ILC, 120K compact cameras and 610K interchangeable lenses being sold. That’s down 52.5%, 76% and 53%, respectively, compared to H1 FY2020.

A breakdown of camera unit sales per quarter going back to FY2018.

While the operating loss looks grim, it needs to be placed in context. Nikon cites ‘impairment losses on production equipment at production sites in Thailand, etc.’ as the reason for over half of this loss (¥15.6B, to be precise). These ‘impairment losses’ suggest Nikon is depreciating or downright writing-off the value of manufacturing equipment at its Thailand factories. Given the transition to new lines for mirrorless products, this isn’t a huge surprise. It’s likely the equipment Nikon is depreciating is that it used to produce its DSLRs (we know that Nikon is using new, more automated assembly lines for at least some of its Z series mirrorless cameras).

Note the additional comments in the yellow box at the bottom of this presentation slide.

Nikon notes its mirrorless camera sales volumes increased year-over-year, the percentage of revenue from its pro and hobbyist cameras increased ‘steadily’ and even says it saw a ‘better-than-expected market recovery from the impact of COVID-19.’

For its full FY2021 forecast, Nikon says it expects its Imaging Products Business to show ¥140B in revenue and an operating loss of ¥45B.

Moving forward, Nikon makes its plan for its Imaging Products Business clear: reduce business costs faster than the rate of shrinkage the camera market is experiencing and ‘Shift to a structure that secures profits constantly even when revenue drops.’ It hopes to reduce costs by more than ¥80B by the end of its FY2022 through ‘substantially lowering the breakeven point through improving productivity, production consolidation, headcount optimization and impairment losses of equipment.’ It also states it will be focusing on its pro and hobbyist products, which it wants to see as the bedrock of its Imaging Products Business. This assessment and approach is similar to the one Olympus has been taking for a few years now—downsize the business to match the market size, which is shrinking across the board.

Nikon also says it wants its Imaging Products Business to enter new fields, including more business-to-business deals. What exactly this looks like remains to be seen, as no details are given, but Nikon says it intends to ‘actively leverage [its] image processing, sensing technology’ and more.

If we’re to summarize this Q2 financial report into a single sentence, it’s this: Nikon plans to cut costs as much as possible to account for a clearly shrinking camera market while also focusing on its higher-end cameras and lenses, which are steadily increasing as a percentage of Nikon’s sales. This should come as good news to experienced Nikon shooters, particularly those who have already or are looking to dive into Nikon’s Z series mirrorless cameras and lenses; more cameras and lenses are on the way.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Former Facebook employees claim Instagram hid ‘likes’ to increase post frequency

12 Dec

A new report claims on behalf of three former Facebook employees that Instagram is hiding ‘likes’ as an experiment to determine whether doing so will get users to post more content. The theory, according to CNBC, is that users who receive few likes on their content may not post as often out of a sense of embarrassment. By hiding likes, Instagram may remove the psychological barrier preventing many users from frequently posting.

Over the course of its test this year, Instagram repeatedly presented its decision to hide likes as an effort to ‘depressurize’ the platform, reduce cyberbullying, and help users focus on the subjects and people who interest them. By hiding likes, the company has said, Instagram will feel less like a popularity contest.

The anonymous sources speaking to CNBC claim that it was parent company Facebook’s research that spurred the hidden likes test. The social media company allegedly found that removing public like counts resulted in Instagram users posting more often.

One source claims that Facebook’s research showed users were deleting or hiding posts that didn’t receive many likes, among other things. Whereas the lack of publicly visible likes helps users feel less self-conscious when their content doesn’t get much attention, the delivery of like and comment notifications to these same users may provide an incentive for them to post more often.

Instagram is allegedly aware of the fact that hidden ‘likes’ may have a negative impact on influencers by reducing the amount of engagement on their posts, but the sources claim that Facebook isn’t terribly concerned due to the lack of adequate competing services these influencers have available to them. This may not matter for the company in the long run if enough users start posting often enough to noticeably boost ad revenue, potentially making up for any negative effects on influencers.

The question remains over whether the ‘depressurized’ nature of a publicly like-free Instagram will lead to the more habitual use of the platform among some users, potentially paving the way for an uptick in ‘Instagram addiction’ cases. If a sense of peer pressure is causing many users to inherently moderate their use of the platform, removing that psychological barrier may have some unwanted consequences.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Kodak’s film business saw a revenue increase of 21% last quarter, but overall profit is down

12 Nov

Eastman Kodak has announced that revenue for its film business grew in the last quarter by 21%, offering a rare glimmer of positive news in a generally shrinking market. The growth though is somewhat tempered by the fact that the company made a loss of $ 5 million over all in the same period, and that total revenue was down compared to the same quarter last year.

Much of the company’s business is tied up in the industrial sector with specialist printing and graphics applications, and a deal with Chinese counterpart Lucky has seen it off-loading a printing plate factory in China while securing licence fees from Lucky for the use of Kodak technology. The deal also ensures that Lucky will provide services to Kodak so it can fulfil its own customer demand.

It would be nice to think that the uplift in the film business came from a rush in demand from enthusiast and professional stills photographers through sales to Kodak Alaris, but it is likely that it is the movie industry that is driving that growth. A number of recent big-budget films have been shot using Kodak stock including Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Ad Astra and half of The Irishman – all of which have a run time of between 2 and 3 and a half hours. That’s a lot of film!

Hopefully this success will spur the company on to produce the 120 version of Ektachrome E100 that we’ve been waiting for since the summer.

For more information see the Kodak website.

Press Release:

Kodak Reports Third-Quarter Revenue of $ 315 Million and Growth in Key Product Areas

ROCHESTER, N.Y.–Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK) today reported financial results for the third quarter 2019, including a net loss of $ 5 million on revenues of $ 315 million and growth in key print and film product areas.

Highlights include:

GAAP net loss of $ 5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, compared to GAAP net earnings of $ 19 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2018.

Revenues for Q3 2019 of $ 315 million compared to revenues for Q3 2018 of $ 329 million.

Operational EBITDA for the quarter of $ 14 million compared to Operational EBITDA of $ 9 million in the prior-year period.

The Company finalized the establishment of a strategic relationship with Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co, Ltd in the People’s Republic of China, including the sale of Kodak’s offset printing plates facility in Xiamen, China, a supply agreement to help Kodak fulfill its customer demand, and an IP agreement under which Kodak licenses its plates technology to HuaGuang to expand the market in China. The current quarter Operational EBITDA includes $ 13 million of license revenue received from this transaction.

Key product lines achieved strong year-over-year growth for the year to date:
Volume for KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates grew by 22 percent.

Annuities revenues for the KODAK PROSPER Inkjet Platform grew by 5 percent.
Revenues for the Company’s film business grew 21 percent year over year for the year to date.

The Company ended the quarter with a cash balance of $ 225 million.

“The Company will continue to concentrate on delivering industry-leading solutions to customers in our core print and film businesses,” said Jim Continenza, Kodak’s Executive Chairman. “Looking ahead to 2020, we will focus on generating cash by growing profitable revenue, making smart investments and eliminating unnecessary spending.”

For the quarter ended September 30, 2019, revenues decreased by approximately $ 14 million compared with the same period in 2018. Kodak ended the quarter with a cash balance of $ 225 million, an increase of $ 27 million from the June 30, 2019 cash balance of $ 198 million when adjusted for the assets associated with Kodak’s offset printing plates facility in Xiamen, China being reported as assets held for sale. The current quarter revenues and Operational EBITDA include $ 13 million of license revenue related to the HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd transaction.

“We have strengthened our financial position by eliminating significant interest costs with the transactions completed earlier in the year,” said David Bullwinkle, Kodak’s CFO. “For the year to date we have delivered growth in SONORA Process Free Plates, PROSPER Inkjet annuities and our film business. We plan to build on those successes and drive further cost efficiencies to help achieve our goal of generating cash.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Why Shooting Film Will Increase Your Digital Photography Skills

03 Sep

In our current digital age the need for a quick turnaround in every discipline can be cut-throat and demanding. When it comes to the world of digital photography it’s not uncommon to sift through thousands of images after a session to narrow your edit down to a mere selection of 10-20 images. The peace of mind knowing you have an Continue Reading

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Fujifilm Japan to increase color film prices by 30%

10 May

Fujiifilm Japan has announced that from the beginning of June it will increase the price it charges distribution companies for some of its color films. Fujifilm says the it has tried to absorb rising material and distribution costs itself, but has been forced to raise prices by 30%.

A list of the films that will be affected by the price increase.

The films that will be subject to the price rise include color negative and positive emulsions, in roll and cut sheet formats. The rises in Japan will come into force on 1st June, but the statement suggests prices rises have already been made in other parts of the world. How these manufacturer price increases will feed down to the consumer is still up in the air.

Manufacturer information:

About price revision of photographic film products

FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sono) will carry out a price revision of the photographic film products provided to distribution companies, including photo studios, on June 1, 2019 in Japan (* 1).

While raw materials and distribution costs for photographic films continue to rise, Fujifilm has endeavored to absorb costs such as improvement in production efficiency and cost reductions in order to stably supply high-quality photographic films to the market.
However, it will be difficult to absorb only by corporate efforts, such as further increases in distribution costs and rising prices of some raw materials, and we will raise prices for photographic film products as described below.

1. Target product:
2. Details of price revision: 30% increase in price planned
3. Implementation date: June 1, 2019

* 1 Overseas, prices are being raised gradually from April 1 this year in each country.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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No Joke: Fujifilm paper and film products to get massive price increase on April 1st

26 Feb

Fujifilm plans to increase its prices substantially on a day when customers are least likely to believe it: April Fool’s Day. The price increase will affect the company’s film and paper products globally starting on April 1, Fujifilm announced on Monday. Though price increases will vary based on market, photographers can expect a minimum 30% increase in film cost and ‘double-digit percentage’ photographic paper price increases.

In the company’s announcement, Fujifilm President Kenji Sukeno explained:

Over the past several years, Fujifilm has faced the rising cost of raw materials and logistics. In the past Fujifilm has absorbed some of the costs by undertaking intensive structural reforms and communalization of production facilities, but as a responsible manufacturing company and to provide the high-quality products our customers expect, the company will institute a price increase.

The price increase will impact Fujifilm’s color negative, color reversal, quick snap, and control strips film products, as well as all of its photographic paper products.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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500px Home Feed redesigned to increase photographers’ exposure

16 Nov

500px has launched a redesigned Home Feed that was inspired by photobooks, according to the company. The new 500px Home Feed is designed to increase photographers’ exposure and enable them to browse more images without navigating away from the feed. 500px says machine learning powers a new recommendation system to help surface content.

500px explained in a blog post that its new recommendation system will help increase photographers’ visibility on the platform by more evenly distributing exposure. Users will see a greater variety of content on the new Home Feed, as well.

Photo pages have been redesigned to make details, Pulse, views and other info readily accessible without being distracting. Photos are prominently displayed at the top of the page on a dark background for minimized distractions.

The changes apply to both desktop and mobile, the latter of which now supports the ability to view and publish Galleries. The redesign also enables users to add images to existing Galleries and then share them with followers.

Other changes revolve around the recommendation system and include suggested images in a grid format for desktop and carousel for mobile, as well as recommendations based on user activity. Recommendations will also draw from recently uploaded images to improve the discovery of new content.

According to 500px, it will not provide NSFW content on its new mobile Home Feed in order to comply with Google’s and Apple’s respective app store restrictions. The NSFW images will still be accessible on desktop, however, assuming the user opts-in to the content in their account settings. The changes are rolling out now.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Fujifilm plans to increase interchangeable lens production capacity as demand grows

26 Jul

Increased mirrorless digital camera demand has prompted Fujifilm to ramp up its interchangeable lens production capacity, the company has announced. New facilities at its existing Taiwa Factory in Miyagi prefecture, Japan will start in September, the ultimate goal being a 70% production capacity increase by 2020, the year when Fujifilm expects all of the new facilities to be fully operational.

Fujifilm reports that its annual interchangeable lens sales are growing by more than 20% per year. The company currently offers 36 interchangeable lenses for its X and G mounts, including its newly announced XF 8-16mm F2.8 ultra-wide zoom scheduled to launch in November.

Fujifilm reports that its annual interchangeable lens sales are growing by more than
20% per year

The company revealed plans to install a large-scale cleanroom facility with a “cutting-edge” analyzer, as well as other facilities that will include AI-based optical adjustment technologies. The launch of these facilities, says Fujifilm, will increase lens production efficiency while maintaining a high level of quality. Fujifilm says the Taiwa Factory’s “Made in Japan” interchangeable lenses will be distributed globally.

Via: Fujifilm

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nikon restructuring and strong D850 sales lead to 8x increase in annual profit

15 May

All of the camera manufacturers have been reporting their annual profits over the last month or two, and while we don’t typically cover individual company financial results, Nikon’s report stands out. That’s because, despite a modest 4% drop in revenue, the company reported a whopping 776% increase in overall profit year-over-year.

The report—which compares the fiscal year ending March 31st 2018 with the year ending March 31st 2017—shows that Nikon’s attempts to “improve profitability through restructuring” and the release of the ultra-popular Nikon D850 in July of 2017 have led to an impressive year. How impressive? Despite revenue dropping by approximately 3.2 billion yen (~$ 29 million USD), Nikon’s profits managed to jump by more than 34 billion yen (~$ 318 million USD). This translates into an 8x increase over last year’s results, which showed a profit of just 3.9 billion yen (~$ 35 million USD).

Of course, this reflects Nikon Corporation as a whole, but the news out of the Imaging division was also positive. While overall unit sales fell—due to the continued demise of the compact camera segment—strong demand for the D850 is said to have increased the sales of “high-class” cameras “significantly,” leading to a 76.2% year-on-year increase in operating profit. Restructuring helped here, too.

Here’s a relevant excerpt from the report:

As a result, revenue for the Imaging Products Business decreased by 5.8% year on year to 360,703 million yen. Operating profit, however, rose by 76.2% year on year to 30,222 million yen due to the efforts to improve profitability through the restructuring, such as the shift to a business strategy of selection and concentration and the discontinuation of operations of Nikon Imaging (China) Co., Ltd., a manufacturing consolidated subsidiary.

You can read the full report at this link, but the short version of the news seems positive, and may even push Nikon to continue focusing on the high-end market that responded so positively to the release of the D850. Does that mean a full-frame mirrorless is that much more likely? We can only speculate… and hope.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Leica will increase its prices in the US starting May 1st

05 Apr

According to a report from Red Dot Forum by Leica Store Miami, Leica will increase the price of most of its products in the US starting May 1st. The site has published a list of the 66 products that will become more expensive next month, which includes most Leica M cameras and nearly all M lenses—for example, the Leica M10 with chrome finish will increase in price by $ 400, from $ 6,895 to $ 7,295.

You can check out the full list here, but according to the report you’ll pay:

  • $ 200 to $ 500 more for Leica M cameras
  • $ 100 to $ 600 more for Leica M lenses
  • $ 100 to $ 200 more for Leica S lenses
  • $ 45 to $ 245 more for Leica APS-C gear
  • $ 245 more for the Leica Q (Typ 116) black anodized model
  • $ 200 more for the Leica X-U (Typ 113)
  • and a whopping $ 1,045 more for the Leica S (Typ 007), which will now cost $ 19,995.

You’ll notice the SL system, new Thambar 90mm and Noctilux 75mm lenses, and Leica CL camera are not affected by this price increase.

Per Red Dot Forum’s report, orders placed by April 30th will honor the current, lower prices—that includes items that won’t be in stock until May 1st or later. If you’re in the US and are interesting in purchasing a Leica product, you can browse the full list of affected products here.

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