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Rumor: Is Nikon buying over Samsung's camera division?

By Marcus Wong - on 4 Dec 2015, 11:54am

Rumor: Is Nikon buying over Samsung's camera division?

Mirrorless Rumors has been reporting that Nikon is acquiring Samsung’s NX technology and intends to use it to a line of professional mirrorless systems to compete with Sony. That’s something that follows on the heels of news that Samsung UK has decided to pull out of the local market of digital cameras and camcorders.

In a statement sent to Amateur Photographer following reports circulating online, a Samsung representative said:

‘We quickly adapt to market needs and demands.

‘In the UK, we have seen a gradual and sustained decline in demand for standalone digital cameras and camcorders and related accessories.
‘For this reason, we have taken the decision to phase out the sales and marketing of these products.’
The UK statement added: ‘This is a local decision, based on local market conditions.’

The news follows reports that Samsung planned to discontinue the NX1 in Europe, but was quickly followed by a separate statement by Samsung USA that they were definitely not withdrawing from the camera business.

In their words:

"Withdrawing from the camera business is not true and there is no official plan to stop production of cameras and lenses. Samsung continuously analyzes the varying needs and requirements of consumers in each market and region very carefully. However, we do not officially comment on rumors or speculation."

Both Nikon Rumors and Imaging-Resource.com don’t seem to think that Samsung will be exiting the digital camera market completely, based on the depth of the research and the obvious scale of the investment that went into redesigning the NX series as a professional series. What may be more likely though, is Samsung exiting the low end of the market – point and shoot cameras that in a sense, compete with their own mobile phones as everyday cameras for the regular consumer.

There haven’t been new compact cameras from Samsung since January of last year, and there really isn’t that much you can do to differentiate yourself in that market unless you can find a niche for yourself, so it would make sense to concentrate efforts on the interchangeable lens market instead, given how the NX1 was fairly well received overall.

On the Nikon front, it certainly doesn’t seem as though there would be any reason for such a buy-over other than to perhaps have a viable alternative to using Sony sensors. There are rumors that Samsung is developing a full-frame mirrorless camera solution so that may be of interest to Nikon, but as it is the company has yet to indicate they are ready to be serious about mirrorless.

With CES 2016 coming up, we may perhaps get a resolution to these rumors, but either way I guess photography enthusiasts will have plenty to be excited about.

Sources: Mirrorless Rumors, Nikon Rumors, Imaging Resource.com, Amateur Photographer

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