Nikon will accelerate its expansion into the Southeast Asian market with its compact digital cameras. Before October, it will transfer the sales and marketing functions for the Asia region from Hong Kong to Singapore. Products will be centralized in Singapore before being sold to various regions. With the proliferation of smartphones, the global market for compact digital cameras is shrinking, and against this backdrop, Nikon aims to increase its market share in Southeast Asia, where there is potential demand.
In the fiscal year 2012 (April 2012 - March 2013), Nikon sold 17.14 million compact digital cameras, surpassing Canon to become the world's number one for the first time. However, due to the impact of smartphone popularity, sales are expected to decline to 14 million units in the fiscal year 2013. In addition to Southeast Asia, potential demand will also be explored in markets such as the Middle East and Africa to mitigate the decline.
The president of the sales headquarters located in Singapore will be Noriyuki Yamaguchi, who previously served as president of Nikon Hong Kong. Before the transfer of the sales headquarters, a new company was established in Singapore on June 3 to manage finances and other operations for Asia and Oceania. Additionally, logistics functions will also be transferred to Singapore, which is expected to reduce transportation costs, including for the main DSLR cameras produced at the factory in Thailand.