Coronavirus Is Impacting Photo Industry Like Nothing Else Historically
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Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash
COVID-19, or as its better known "coronavirus," is affecting nearly every country in the world. Citizens are quarantined in their homes, major events are shutting down, and world markets are crashing.
Personally, I haven't left my house in nearly a week and I'm feeling a little stir-crazy. But, compared to those who are in hospitals with the coronavirus, or those who have lost their jobs over the pandemic, I'm also feeling quite lucky.
However, coronavirus is affecting the photography industry like nothing else in history ever has. Here's what we can expect in the coming months for the photography industry thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cameras Delayed
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
As we all know, the coronavirus outbreak began in China and rapidly spread in the country before gaining worldwide attention. As such, many factories have been completely shut down in China, which means that supply chains across the world are being disrupted.
This is especially true in technology industries, like the photography industry.
Nikon recently announced the Nikon D6, which was originally set to be dropped this month, will be delayed due to a lack of parts. We can now expect the Nikon D6 in May.
It is rumored that the highly anticipated Canon EOS R5, which is a full-frame camera that shoots 8K video, is going to be drastically delayed. Canon Rumors states that Canon's manufacturing capacity is currently 25% of what it should be thanks to coronavirus supply chain problems.
Sony cameras, on the other hand, will suffer from "much lower capacity in production volumes," according to Sony Alpha Rumors.
In essence, it seems that every single camera manufacturer is suffering.
Photography Industry Events Cancelled
As Jesse Peacock discussed above, CP+, one of the world's largest camera conventions, was canceled last month due to coronavirus concerns.
Another important photography convention, Mobile World Congress, was canceled amidst coronavirus fears.
The organizers of Photokina (which is the largest photography trade show in the world and is not held until May) are still holding out in hopes that the coronavirus will be under control by then. Considering Photokina got canceled in 2019 due to a change in schedule, canceling the trade show this year would be especially disappointing.
Possible Long Term Effects
While the long term effects of the coronavirus will undoubtedly mean a lot of economic stress on a litany of industries, the photography industry is especially at risk due to its economic decline. Our industry is already struggling, so what does this mean in the long run?
Companies are going to need to rapidly adjust, and as this video by Cheddar suggests, camera manufacturers have never been especially good at this.
While it is impossible to know now, we can look to camera manufacturers' past actions in the fact of historic economic decline to guess.
Many camera companies have already been trimming their budgets, restructuring their organizations, and trying to buy stocks back in order to keep themselves afloat.
All the coronavirus may mean is that some of these companies may meet their end before they were planning to.
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Via PetaPixel
