Olympus Selling Digital-Camera Business Defeated by Smartphones

Digital-camera pioneer Olympus Corp. will sell off its imaging business, blaming the rise of smartphones for its exit from a business it helped to foster more than two decades ago.

The Japanese manufacturer unveiled plans on Wednesday to sell its imaging division to private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners Inc. The camera business had been steadily shrinking over the past decade, making up 5.5% of revenue for the fiscal year that ended in March and posting operating losses for the past three years. Medical equipment such as endoscopes now fill the void, accounting for roughly four-fifths of annual sales.