Brno - Because of the natural disaster in Japan, those who are about to buy a Nikon or Cannon cameras or accessories should expect delays and shortages, admitted representatives and dealers of these brands in the Czech Republic.
"These producers have factories also in other Asian countries, but some key parts of cameras and accessories are produced directly in Japan. We are not expecting large delivery failures, but it is possible that the arrival of some new products to the market will get delayed," said a representative of a special shop with cameras and accessories in Prague, on condition of anonymity.
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"The supply of the market should not be threatened at all in the case of small and personal office equipment. A certain problem is in the disruption of the supply of necessary parts and components for production capacities of photographic equipment," said Miloš Bejblík from the marketing division of the Czech division of Canon.
Prices not expected to rise
However, no price hikes are expected. "Maybe some will use the situation in Japan as an excuse for raising prices, but I don't think it would be drastic or wide-spread. Czech dealers are well-supplied and thus have no reason for increasing prices," said Jan Samko from Alza.cz, a Czech online shop.
"The competition was not stopped by the earthquake, so we do not expect it to influence the prices. It is possible that deliveries get delayed, or there will be a temporary shortage of some parts, but we have no reports of price hikes," said David Litvák from Datart, a Czech consumer electronics retail chain.
The Czech division of Cannon too denies there will be price hikes. "Currently we focus on optimally using the existing reserves and minimalizing possible effects of the events (in Japan) on the market. In this effort we thus do not think about increasing prices," said Bejblík from Cannon.
From the two popular Japanese brands, Nikon was hit worse by the earthquake and the following tsunami. There are six Nikon factories in the damaged area. Four of them resumed production on 23 March, the remaining two are still inoperable.
