The German website Photoscala (Click here) analyzed the first quarter results from Panasonic. The company had a net loss of 30.4 billion yen (approximately € 273.3 million) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011/12. This is of course also the result of the Tsunami/Fukushima disaster.
The digital camera sales can be increased with 44.4 billion yen (about € 400 million) over the fourth quarter of last fiscal year by almost 34%. But it’s still 13% below the fiscal first quarter from last year.
There is a small rumor running in Japan (Source: etnews.com) saying that Olympus and Casio are ready for a partnership in the compact camera segment. It sounds like Olympus will develop future compact cameras together with Casio. Those compacts will use Olympus lenses and Sony sensors. I know it’s not a Micro Four Thirds related news but the most interesting bit of info is that Olympus would drop Panasonic sensors in favour of Sony sensors. At that point I want to remind you that trusted sources said that Samsung offered to make Four Thirds sensors for Oly. If we should give some credit to those rumors than Olympus is trying to become more independent from Panasonic sensors.