It’s been just three years since Nikon announced it was moving all of its camera production out of Japan and closing several optics factories in the country. But the situation in 2021 seems to have little to do with the current one in which Nikon’s accounts are healthy, a spectacular new headquarters is under construction in Tokyo, and they have even taken over Red, the digital cinema company.
Although this economic strength has a lot to do with the company’s restructuring and the commitment to grow in other sectors to not depend so much on photography, Nikon has just recently announced an investment of 160 million dollars in its factory in Tochigi prefecture to expand it and reinforce the production of high-end optics.
The Nikkor 135mm f1.8 is manufacturing in China.This is published by the Nikkei newspaper and collected by Nikon Rumors, leaving the door open to various interpretations of this movement by Nikon. For years now, most lenses have been manufactured outside the country and even pieces as fine as the recent 135 mm f1.8 are produced in China.
However, lenses and optical components were still being manufactured in a dozen small factories spread across the country, so now the plan is to focus all that production on the new facilities.
Is Nikon planning to bring back local production of some of its lenses in the face of rising costs in China and the devaluation of the yen? Could Nikon be thinking about betting on cinema optics, as was speculated after the purchase of Red?
Beyond the interpretations and theories that the news has sparked, Nikon’s move surely has more to do with simple economic and business strategy than with decisions so focused on future products, as we always tend to think.
