Olympus scandal affecting camera sales?

Believe me, I really live in the middle of the nowhere on a high placed town in the alps. And even the local magazine posted the “Olympus scandal” news on the first page. That negative publicity is going around all over the world. And more negative media reports are coming out every day. Olympus delayed once again the release of the financial report and is facing the possibility of being delisted at the Tokyo Exchange (Source: Bloomberg). And ex-Olympus officials face prison if fraud can be proved (Source: Bloomberg).

Is that kind of news affecting current camera sales? I asked a couple of dealers what they are experiencing in their stores. There is indeed a perception form some potential buyers that you should avoid to buy an Olympus camera. But sales are still constant. So there is nothing to worry about it yet. But I really hope Olympus will take action to convince us and the market that they will do the “right things”. I think that kind of moments can be very positive if you learn the lesson. I still have faith. The history of many companies showed that sometimes bad moments helped to create a new success (See Apple history)