Forget about hard drives, what about cameras?

[ludi]

Somehow, in the midst of all the bad hard drive news, less attention was paid to the camera market. Here is what I dug up:

Nikon (as of 11/5): Effectively all DX-format production shut down by the floods (and this on top of power outages crimping their Japanese production after Fukushima...bad time to be a Nikon stockholder). They were expecting to start cleaning up the plant some around now, restart production in January, and possibly resume normal output levels by March. A friend who works for Ritz Camera also noted that they've suspended their employee and affiliates discount program indefinitely. So, expect severe shortages lasting into 2Q12.

Sony (as of 11/16): Alpha and NEX production shut down for several weeks, has now resumed. Two of Sony's three Thailand production facilities were down but the pre-launch production of the NEX-7 and Alpha A65 were resumed ahead of schedule by shifting them to the third plant. Continuing shortages possible.

Canon (as of 10/26): No camera production in Thailand, only inkjet printers. However, some Canon suppliers for camera lines reportedly affected, unknown delays and/or shortages could arise before everything settles out again.

[Voldenuit]

Ricoh is also suffering from parts shortages.

I believe Panasonic makes their cameras in China, as does Olympus, but Panny seems to have trouble getting cameras in stores even when nothing is going wrong, so no change there ( ), and Olympus is suffering from the recent book-keeping scandal which will hurt their ability to secure lines of credit.