Olympus has admitted that it may be forced to shake up its compact camera line in response to intensifying competition posed by ?high-spec? smartphones.

The firm’s head office was elaborating on comments made by Olympus’s proposed new president, Hiroyuki Sasa, who last week told Kyodo News. ‘We would like to narrow down our [imaging business] portfolio.’

Olympus Tokyo spokesperson Ayako Nagami has since told Amateur Photographer: ?It has not been decided to reform Olympus?s product line-up at this moment.?

However, she added: ?Due to the increasing popularity of smartphones equipped with high-spec digital camera functions, more and more products are competing with low-cost compact digital cameras.

?This trend, which is not unique to our company, applies… throughout the market.?

She pointed out that all camera firms may have to revise their product ranges to ?keep in step with new market trends?.

Interview with Michael Woodford, February 2012