Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus unnerved by anti-Japanese sentiment
Actor So Ji-sub holds Sony's Alpha 7 III camera in this promotional poster. / Courtesy of Sony Korea
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV full-frame DSLR camera / Courtesy of Canon Korea
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and other Japanese camera makers are increasingly concerned about the growing anti-Japan sentiment as some consumers have begun boycotting made-in-Japan products amid Tokyo's restrictions on exports of high-tech materials to Korea, according to company officials Wednesday.
They said the Abe administration's unilateral move has fanned the boycott of Japanese products here, adding it is too early to calculate the impact of the trade conflict between the two countries, although they have been keeping their eyes on the situation.
“Given digital cameras have been losing their shares to smartphones, every camera maker is seeing their sales decrease. In this situation, it is hard to conclude that the decreasing sales of cameras stems from the ongoing anti-Japan sentiment,” a Sony Korea official said.
Nikon Korea said it cannot confirm whether its sales figure actually has been decreased or not.
“July has traditionally been an offseason for the camera industry but even if there is a change in sales it is not easy to figure out whether it is caused by the on-going dispute between the two countries,” the company official said.
Though Canon, Sony and Olympus also said they cannot reveal their exact sales figures, the sales volume of digital cameras in the first week of July declined 9 percent compared to the figure in the final week of June, according to data by Danawa.com, a local price comparison website.
In reaction to Tokyo's export restrictions, Korean consumers have been boycotting Japanese products.
More than 35,000 people have signed an online petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calling for the boycott of Japanese products.
The Korea Consumer Cooperative Alliance, comprised of 80 cooperative unions here, announced Tuesday it described Japan's export restriction as an economic retaliation to Korea and launched a “No Japan” campaign boycotting Japanese products and travel to Japan.
The Japanese brands being targeted for boycott are Toyota, Honda, Uniqlo and ABC-MART. Camera makers such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus and Fujifilm are also included.
The deepening anti-Japan sentiment is apparently an undesirable situation for Japanese makers because Korean consumers are already purchasing digital cameras less and less.
Canon and Sony, the two popular camera brands among Korean consumers, have seen their operating profits shrink more than 30 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. Canon recorded an operating profit of 4.4 billion won, a 33 percent decrease year-on-year, while Sony logged 13.6 billion won, about a 39 percent decrease year-on-year.
An industry expert said the anti-Japan sentiment wouldn't have a big impact on the digital camera market as there is no choice but to purchase Japanese cameras. Japanese camera makers have shown a strong presence in the global digital camera market with a combined market share of 85.2 percent in 2018 according to Nikkei.
While Korean companies produce various kinds of IT devices, they don't produce cameras. Samsung once had a lineup of digital cameras, producing compact-sized digital cameras, full-frame DSLR cameras and mirrorless cameras, but officially withdrew from the business in 2017 after it released the NX500 mirror-less camera in 2015.
In such a situation, Japanese makers said all they can do is keep an eye on the situation and hope the two countries can address the conflict soon.
“As the conflict is deeply rooted in political turmoil between the two countries, there is nothing we can do. But we are thoroughly watching the ongoing trade dispute,” a Canon Korea official said.
Nikon Korea said the anti-Japan sentiment is a perpetual issue for every Japanese company doing business in Korea.
"We are thoroughly watching the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries. The inter-country issue like this is a perpetual issue that every Japanese firm working in Korea has. To better communicate with Korean consumers, we will intensify promotional efforts and improve the quality of customer service with a long-term perspective," an official from Nikon Korea said.