Nikon lesson: Change with the times or perish

Optics and imaging giant Nikon recently announced that it would close its subsidiary Nikon Imaging China Co as part of its restructuring, which began in November last year to cope with the shrinking demand for compact digital cameras.

"In recent years, however, due to the rise of smartphones, the compact digital camera market has been shrinking rapidly, leading to a significant decrease in the operating rate at the NIC and creating a difficult business environment," Nikon said in a statement.

Established in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in July 2002, the Nikon subsidiary has been making compact digital cameras, lenses and other components. Since China is a large market for cameras, NIC's sales subsidiary in Shanghai will continue its operations - so will Nikon's manufacturing and sales subsidiaries in China.