Nikon Acquires US Camera Maker RED

(RTTNews) - Nikon (NINOF.PK) announced acquisition of the U.S.-based high-end camera company RED Digital Cinema to expand into professional digital cinema camera market.

The Japanese company had acquired 100 percent of RED's outstanding shares for an undisclosed sum, making the latter a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nikon.

Nikon plans to infuse RED's "knowledge in cinema cameras, including unique image compression technology and color science" into its professional and consumer imaging.

RED, founded by Jim Jannard in 2005, boasts of industry-defining products such as the original RED ONE 4K and cutting-edge V-RAPTOR X with its proprietary RAW compression technology.

The digital cinema camera company employing approximately 220 employees is well-known for its futuristic products.

The California-based company's cameras have been used in various movies and shows such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Captain Marvel, Squid Game, Mindhunter, Peaky Blinders, and The Queen's Gambit.

RED also tried its hands on smartphone market, by launching RED Hydrogen One in 2018 with holographic display and support for modular add-ons. However, the smartphone failed to attract customers and was discontinued a year later.

In 2022, RED had filed a lawsuit against Nikon claiming that the latter had copied its data compression technology in a firmware update for Nikon's Z9 camera. The case was later dismissed.