Nikon MY shutters ops, hands marketing and sales duties to distributors

Nikon Malaysia is ceasing operations on 1 January 2021 with its final day being 31 December 2020. In line with the announcement, it has appointed Futuromic Photo AV its authorised distributor for the imaging business to serve Nikon’s marketing, sales and after-sales service for its products and activities in Malaysia. Meanwhile, QES Asia Pacific will continue as its authorised distributor for the industrial metrology business. Nikon also advised consumers to direct queries related to marketing, sales and after-sales to the respective distributors.

Futuromic Photo AV and QES Asia Pacific have been key partners of Nikon Malaysia since 2003 and 2009 respectively. The company said it is committed and will continue to offer products and services that meet customers' needs and expectations in the Malaysian market. Nikon's spokesperson clarified in a statement to A+M that it is not terminating its business in Malaysia. Instead, it will now be handled by its authorised distributors. It declined to comment on the number of individuals impacted from its marketing and sales team.

"We are grateful for our passionate community’s support and loyalty through the years with us, and it has been a pleasure serving both the imaging and industrial metrology fields in Malaysia," the company said in a social media announcement.

Nikon added that it will operate as usual during the transition period from now until 31 December. "We ask for your understanding during this transition and should you require to reach out to us during this period, you may do via our official social channels," it said.

Last month, Nikon also announced the closure of its Indonesian operations on 21 October, nearly eight years after it started its journey the country. According to its Instagram post, Alta Nikindo is handling all marketing, sales and service activities as its official distributor.

Separately, Nikon as a whole reported a 54.7% dip in revenue to 64,723 million yen (about RM 2.5 million) for the first quarter ended 30 June 2020. Nikon said in its financial report that the imaging products business remained sluggish due to COVID-19, in addition to the continuous shrinkage of the digital camera-interchangeable lens type market and the compact digital camera market. Meanwhile in the precision equipment field, there were also postponements in sales of equipment due to the spread of the pandemic. On the healthcare front, Nikon said "market conditions remained dull" in both the bioscience and ophthalmic diagnosis field, also affected by COVID-19.

Meanwhile, it also cut 700 jobs in Thailand and Laos in May in a bid to restructure its digital camera business, Nikkei Asia reported. About 500 employees were impacted in Thailand while another 200 were affected in Laos. Nikkei Asia said the numbers form about 10% of the headcount in each country.

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