The publication of the Olympus’s latest figures for the full fiscal year make for disturbing reading for their imaging division. Thom Hogan in his Sansmirror blog points out that the sales figures for the brand are, quite frankly, a financial disaster. Among other results, the company missed its own sales targets by 41%, 33% of all mirrorless sales are into Japan and even this experienced a 5% dip in sales. In other parts of the world, this decline was in double digits. The long and the short of it is that it is currently costing Olympus more to make and market their cameras than they are making by selling them.

Thom is also quick to point out that this should not affect an individual’s decision to purchase an Olympus camera or not. Their current range of mirrorless cameras seem to be market leaders, and will continue to be so, despite the manufacturers commercial woes.

It should also serve to point out the general malaise that is affecting all camera manufacturers in a sales environment where the ubiquitous compact camera has largely been replaced by the smartphone.