The world of photography could be described by one word: Japan. All companies in this article, which are also the biggest camera producers, are from Japan.
Canon is a Japanese company which produce many various products including cameras, printers and computer devices. However, photographic industry is the reason why Canon started in 1933.
The first camera was made of wood and named by a Buddhistic god. 50 years later, the company introduces EOS series which has been the most popular series of all times.
Canon has its headquarter in Japan. Subsidiaries are found in several places in North America and Europe. The company is among 2000 biggest firms worldwide. Nearly 200,000 employees work for Canon.
Nikon is another producer of great cameras from Japan. It is even older than Canon, the first product with Nicon brand were already made during the WW1. However, the firm didn’t make cameras from the beginning. Originally, they were oriented on microscopes.
WW2 meant a lot for Nikon. The company’s size was increased by more than 100 times. Since Japan took actively part in the war, the firm became an important supplier.
First Nikon camera was made after WW2, in 1948. Its name was Nikon 1 and the product quickly became a legend in the history of photography.
Canon and Nicon are the biggest competitors nowadays, even though Canon used to be compatible with Nikkor objectives (produced by Nikon) for many years. According to Forbes, Nikon is a smaller company than Canon.
Company, which name is inspired by the legendary mountain in Greece, is also connected with Japan. It was established in 1919, one year after WW1. Like Nikon, Olympus was originally concentrated in microscopes. Additionally, Olympus also produced thermometers.
Although the company offers various products, it has gained the popularity in the recent years with small and cheap digital cameras. Sales in this segment were slowed down significantly since smartphones can already offer very similar quality.
However, the importance of Olympus is in medical industry. Majority of endoscope market belongs to Olympus in 2018. Among the company’s shareholders, we would also find Sony, another Japanese tech giant.
Everyone knows Sony for reliable electronics and high prices. From all the companies on this list, Sony is the youngest one but also, according to market value, the most successful one.
Despite the success, Sony hasn’t enjoyed the best times over the past 20 years. It escaped from laptop market where VAIO devices have had a huge name. Sony Ericsson, which Sony was also a part of, didn’t manage to adapt its products to innovative market with smart phones. Although Sony still sells smartphones, the brand’s sales cannot be compared to those of the South Korean competitor – Sony is not even presented in TOP 10.