2004: A bad year for Taiwan’s digital-camera producers

[Steve]

...but a good year for beer, we hope.

The digital-camera market looked promising at the start of 2004 for both existing and new players in Taiwan’s digital-camera sector. With three- to five-megapixel cameras expected to become mainstream, as their prices dropped to US$149-249, Taiwan manufacturers thought they could take a significant slice of the market by leveraging their low-cost integration and manufacturing experience. The makers expected international brands would be forced to outsource more OEM orders for mainstream cameras to Taiwan as cost pressures increased.

This did not happen, and at least six of Taiwan’s top ten digital-camera makers have seen shipments fall well short of forecasts. Of the major Japan-based digital-camera brands, only Olympus, Fujifilm and Casio have outsourced to Taiwan.

[The article]