With a constant dwindling market share, Konica Minolta has decided on a major restructuring plan for their company. They are scaling back most consumer operations, with the biggest hits on their film and digital camera lines.

Industry experts and a number of picture-taking enthusiasts place the blame on a lack of marketing, placing Konica Minolta well behind such competitors as Canon and Nikon. This restructuring (or rather, downsizing) will result in the loss of 4000 jobs, with KM shifting their focus toward more business-to-business solutions, like photocopiers.

“Looking at the worsening market conditions, we decided to deal with things more quickly,” Konica Minolta President Fumio Iwai told a news conference.

Their digital SLR (DSLR) development arm most likely will remain untouched because of their firm commitment with Sony to co-produce the higher-end cameras.