Nikon Sony and Panasonic are the three companies that should announce new mirrorless products in April. But the earthquake disaster may will force them to delay the new product announcement.
Nikon officially suspended the operations at the Nikon plant at Natori in Sendai “We are unable to announce how soon the operation will resume due to the regional interruption of life-lines although endeavor for restoration are under the way by some of our maintenance personnel.“. And “Injury is reported to some of our group employees. We are currently continuing to gather safety information of our personnel and its family members.“
Panasonic said that “A few employees working at the Fukushima factory, the Sendai factory of AVC Networks Company and at the Koriyama factory of Panasonic Electronic Works received minor injury. Some part of the ceiling and wall were damaged, but there has been no fire or collapse. As regards the impact on our business operations we are in the process of investigation“
Sony halted and evacuated six factories in northeastern Japan: “The company is assessing the impact of power outages and damage to its facilities in the region, which make Blu-ray discs, magnetic heads and batteries.“