Don’t forget the write-off…Ted’s re-opens…Olympus out of Korea…SD a fast-moving target…
Don’t forget the write-off
Just a reminder for those of us flush with cash – or willing to take a punt on investing in capital in these Unprecedented times when the New Normal is being All In This Together with An Abundance of Caution – that the instant asset right-off has been extended to capital purchases up to $150K – up from $30K – but only from March 12 until June 30 this year.
This applies on a per asset basis, so you could actually purchase multiple assets and claim the instant asset write off on each of them. It applies to both new and second hand assets.
Click here for more details.
Ted’s re-opens
While many if not most specialist photo retailers around Australia chose to soldier on through the Coronavirus lockdown, even if it was only with an online service and kerbside pick-up, Ted’s closed its 19-store chain on March 28, and is re-opening next Monday, June 1.
There will be a limit to the total number of customers allowed in each store to help maintain safe distancing and the shops will be awash with hand sanitiser. Hours have been pared down to 10-4pm.
DigiDirect stores also appear to be open, along with the Digital Camera Warehouse outlets. Most Camera House outlets are open, although some are on short hours. So plenty of options for taking advantage of that instant asset write off mentioned above.
Olympus out of Korea
Olympus will close its camera business in South Korea on June 30, while continuing to sell medical and scientific equipment in the country.
In a statement Olympus said that despite focusing on mirrorless cameras and interchangeable lenses, ‘it has become barely possible to sustain the business with profit.’
It will continue to operate its camera and lens servicing facility in the country until March 31, 2026.
Some reports have linked the closure to a growing social media-driven push to boycott Japanese products due to a fresh wave of ill-feeling regarding Japan’s treatment of Koreans in WWII. Department store/clothing business Uniglo has been the focus of this campaign following an insensitive advertising campaign. On the other hand, there aren’t many cameras not made by a Japanese company!
In November last year rumours emerged – and were quickly refuted by Olympus – that the venerable camera maker planned to quit the camera business entirely.
While Olympus is one of the biggest brands in photography, it is by far the smallest and weakest business unit in the Olympus corporation. It’s less than half the size of the (profitable) Scientific Solutions unit and about one-tenth the size of the endoscopy business. In the nine months from March to December 2019 the camera business delivered a loss of 7.4 billion yen on revenue of 34.4 billion yen.
Some pundits have speculated that Olympus can ‘afford’ to continue to run the camera business at a modest loss because of its success and profits in medical equipment. It may be that Coronavirus changes that equation.
SD a fast-moving target
The SD Association has announced the possibility of even faster SD memory cards under the ‘SD Express’ sub-brand. The new SD technology will be capable of delivering a maximum of nearly 4 gigabytes per second data transfer rate. They will be backward-compatible with existing SD ports.
The SD Association might be good at introducing faster memory cards, but its nomenclature is stupidly confusing. So for instance, ‘SD Express will be offered on SDHC, SDXC and SDUC memory cards.’ (More simply, cards of varying storage capacities.)
‘The cards can move large amounts of data generated by data-intense wireless or wired communication, super-slow motion video, RAW continuous burst mode and 8K video capture and playback, 360 degree cameras/videos’ – and the list goes on.
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