Nikon wants to change the concept of the camera to compete with smartphones

Recently, due to the growing popularity of smartphones with good cameras, manufacturers of amateur cameras are going through hard times. Over the past year, sales of soap dishes have fallen by 25%.

Nikon President Makoto Kimura said in an interview with Bloomberg that the company must find the answer to the rapid growth of mobile devices: "We want to create a product that will change the concept of cameras."

According to Kimura, the new product itself may not be a camera, but did not go into details. Although some regarded his words as saying that Nikon is developing its own smartphone, there is a version that the company’s plans may be something even more radical, writes Mashable.

Nikon already had to take a chance, betting on new technologies. So, the company was the first to release a camera running Android - CoolPix S800c. Although the product received mostly negative reviews, its concept was later used in the Samsung Galaxy Camera.

It is possible that Nikon is eyeing wearable gadgets. GoPro showed that there is a market for wearable cameras, although attempts to break into the mainstream (for example, products such as Pivothead) have so far failed. But Google Glass and its competitors can make wearable cameras successful, and perhaps Nikon has plans for the nascent smart glasses market.