... in photo camera business will most likely not be Mamiya, a company for whose products I have a lot of sympathy. As you may know, it has been sold a few days before. This happened in silence, and nothing surfaced but a a short and vague press release that does not mention the core issues at all. Now Michael Reichmann has details from a correspondent in Japan (full quote as the item does not have a permalink):
Apparently the sale of Mamiya OP's assets and obligations to Cosmo Digital Imaging was for 100 million Yen (less than a million dollars). This new company currently has only two employees, though this will increase as some Mamiya staff are transferred. My guess is that Cosmo will simply take over responsibility for parts and service, with all manufacturing and R&D to come to an end, if it hasn't already. Cosmo's parent, Cosmos Scientific, appears to be too small a company to undertake a revitalization of the Mamiya brand, though it would be wonderful of my surmise is proven wrong. In the meantime Mamiya America Corp., reportedly has merged with its advertising agency ChristopherMax Studio. How this all will play out in the end remains to be seen, but the Mamiya ZD, regarded by some last year as the company's potential salvation, appears to have been simply too little, too late.
Less than a million dollars. What a sad end of a legend.
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