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Tamron has become a prominent name as one of the third-party lens manufacturers. The company has introduced good budget offerings for telephoto users, with many beginners or serious enthusiasts becoming their long-term and loyal customers. In May, the company finally disclosed its sales for Q1 2025, and it seems that despite its popularity, the company has faced a loss. The reason for it is not the lenses, but something else entirely. Here is a quick look at the report.
Tamron’s Sales Report
According to Tamron’s report, the company saw a 1.9% decline in sales compared to the same period in 2024. The company made 19,451 million yen this year, compared to 19,819 million yen last year. The report notes that the decline in the photography industry is due to “continued slump in sales in the US market and reactionary decline in the China market from high growth in 1Q, 2024.” While the US market slowed down, Japan and Europe showed a positive trend.
However, the company also managed to it’s profit margin by 1% year-over-year, now coming in at 45.8%. However, the income decreased by 6.9%, coming to 4,235 million yen due to sales, expenses, and higher R&D investments and labor costs.
Coming to photographic equipment, Tamron saw a sales decline of 2.7% to 13,569 million yen, due to lower demand from the US and China. China already had many third-party lens manufacturers in recent years, including Laowa and Viltrox, which have some great offerings. It is natural that some may choose local brands over imported Japanese lenses, due to the price difference.
Forecast of the Company
Due to tariffs, Tamron believes they will see a further decline in sales. The company has production units in three places: Japan, China, and one recently established in Vietnam. At the moment, Vietnam has the largest production percentage, standing at 60%. Japan comes in second at 25% and China, third, at 15%. Tamron states that tariffs will have about 00 million yen worth of impact on operating income due to administrative changes in the US.
To tackle this, the company has the following ideas:
- Increase production capacity to meet the demands of the future market. Tamron intends to have a production ratio of 45% for both China and Vietnam production units, with only 10% for Japan by 2028. The latter, perhaps, could be due to the falling value of the yen against the dollar.
- Aims to “diversify” production locations, thereby helping to reduce production costs.
- Tamron will also reduce importing parts from China to 20% or lower by the end of this year, so that they have less dependency on the country. This move makes sense as China currently has a tariff of 145% from US.
- Including cost-reduction measures and increasing the productivity of production houses to maintain profit, despite the tariffs.
The company plans on increasing its sales to reach 100 billion yen. However, that may take a lot of time. In addition, the company intends to launch six new lenses in 2025, including 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 VC VXD (B061) for Nikon and Canon mirrorless mounts. However, by 2026, the company will release at least 10 lenses every year, something they already revealed at the beginning of the year.
Tamron, like Canon, has foreseen what the future may hold. However, due to the uncertainty at the moment, they are simply factoring in how much of a loss they could have in the future and ways to mitigate it. Increasing production is one option, but that does not guarantee more sales, especially when Vietnam and Japan both have a 10% tariff at the moment. Either way, the company is trying its best. But it is safe to say that many would now gradually look for second-hand cameras and lenses, if the price increase persists.
