Nikon recently released a set of reports detailing severe financial difficulties for the camera company. As a result, they will be cancelling the release of a new line of premium compact cameras and the company will undergo major restructuring in an attempt to make it profitable again.

The reports (released today) indicate that the company recorded "extraordinary" losses of approximately $263 million mostly due to inventory write-off and write-downs over a span of nine months in their semiconductor lithography section, with overall losses totaling approximately $465 million. Though this is not directly due to their photography business, their revised financial forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 notes:

Regarding the consolidated financial forecast for the year ending March 31, 2017, despite the continuous boom in sales of FPD Lithography Systems in the Precision Equipment Business, consolidated operating income as a whole is expected to fall below the previous forecast, impacted by the sluggish and shrinking markets of digital cameras in the Imaging Products Business and industrial metrology equipments in the Instruments Business.

As such, the company is cancelling the release of their DL series of compact cameras and will undergo "fundamental company-wide restructuring in order to enhance our ability to generate profits and create value." While it's unsurprising to hear of decreasing camera sales, particularly in the compact market, where cell phones have essentially pushed the point-and-shoot to the brink of existence, one would hope that Nikon will be able to recover successfully and continue to fill the needs of many photographers who rely on their gear.

[via Nikon Rumors]