Nikon has released its 2021 first quarter financial results, and the figures are encouraging. They show increased revenue in all of the company's business sectors relative to 2020, and an increase of ¥24.9B in revenue and ¥17.5B in profit specifically in its Imaging Products Business. It indicates a significant recovery in unit sales of digital cameras, though given the global struggles in 2020, improvements this year were always likely.
If we dig deeper into the results, we can see Nikon's mirrorless Z-series cameras have seen strong sales as post-pandemic demand for cameras resumes. Revenue from sales of Nikon mirrorless cameras has nearly doubled, though this is in part due to a weaker Yen and a higher average selling price of Nikon cameras.
Nikon states in its quarterly results that the digital camera market continues its recovery trend, with particularly strong sales of mid-high end cameras and lenses. As such, Nikon plans to launch further products in this sector - the Z fc being the latest offering to hit the market.
In light of these results, Nikon has revised its projected annual revenue for the year ending March 31 2022 upward, to ¥170B. It also points to a focus on increasing the stability of semiconductor parts, in response to the global shortage of electronic components. Consequently, Nikon is forecasting a huge increase in full-year operating profit to ¥12B - up by ¥7.0B versus Nikon's previous annual forecast. Nikon attributes this to higher camera prices (thanks, Nikon!), as well as lower company costs due to restructuring.
This positive news for Nikon comes after years of disappointing fiscal performance for the company. Back when the D850 was launched in 2017, Nikon was reporting poor financial results in spite of producing some terrific cameras and lenses, so it's great to see the figures bounce back after the resources Nikon has ploughed into the development of its Z-mount cameras and lenses.
It seems nothing is going to replace Canon as the overall market leader in the camera sector, but strong competition can only be good news for consumers.
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