Upcoming Olympus President Wants To Cut Back Camera Portfolio

Hiroyuki Sasa was named as the potential new president of Olympus back in February, but already seems to have a strategy in place for getting the camera manufacturer back to profitability. Speaking to Japan Times, Sasa confirmed that Fuji and Sony have expressed interest in a financial partnership with Olympus, but he hasn't ruled out weathering the financial storm alone.

Most importantly, Sasa touched on Olympus' current camera lineup, saying that the company needs to "narrow down our portfolio", and that by doing so "we can make the business fully profitable." That doesn't mean that the company will stop innovating, though. Olympus plan to continue pushing mirrorless cameras, and attract customers with new features, like waterproofing.

Sasa expects to reveal the new plans before a shareholders meeting in June. Last year, the company's management admitted to hiding ¥117.7 billion (~$1.43 billion) in losses, stretching all the way back to the 90s. Olympus is expected to post another operating loss for this financial year.

Olympus recently began shipping its latest high end camera in Japan, the E-M5. The camera is expected to begin shipping in the United Stated within the next week or two. Olympus has taken a retro camera body, but packed it full of the latest technology, with a 16.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, 120fps electronic viewfinder, and 3-inch OLED touchscreen.

[via 4/3 Rumors]