Olympus president Hiroyuki Sasa said the ‘mutual supply of key components’ will ‘strengthen the competitiveness of product/price’.

Sasa made the comments at a meeting in Tokyo earlier today, three days after Olympus announced its alliance with Sony in a £400m deal.

Meanwhile, Olympus plans to plough on with its focus on mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras and ‘high-end’ compacts, in accordance with a previously announced restructure of its imaging business.

Outlining details of the business and capital alliance, Sasa added in a presentation: ‘By combining the two companies’ strengths through an alliance in the medical and digital camera businesses, we aim to enhance the corporate value of each company.’