<p>Olympus Corp. (7733) forecast a return toprofit for its camera unit next fiscal year as sales ofmirrorless models increase.</p><p>Annual sales of mirrorless models will rise to 1 millionunits as early as in the year starting April, reaching 5 percentshare of the global market, Chief Executive Officer Hiroyuki Sasa said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. Achieving thatlevel of sales will bring about 7 billion yen ($68 million) inoperating profit, he said.</p><p>Olympus, which has posted two consecutive quarters oflosses, is counting on high-end mirrorless digital cameras tomake up for the earning shortfalls from compact ones amidsurging demand of smartphone sales such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone.The Tokyo-based company aims for its mirrorless models tocompete with single-lens reflux cameras by Canon Inc. (7751) and NikonCorp., the world's biggest camera makers.</p><p>"What mirrorless cameras can do has become toe-to-toe withcameras with mirrorbox," Sasa said. "Ours are lighter, smallerand made with less parts, so we can do better with prices."</p><p><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-18/olympus-expects-camera-unit-to-return-to-profit-next-year.html">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple-supports-five-new-cameras-from-nikon-olympus-sony-in-camera-raw-5.0.2?utm_campaign=tmo_waylf">Apple Supports Five New Cameras from Nikon, Olympus, Sony in Camera RAW ...</a> (The Mac Observer)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=djQIfMt2_XWUSaMm_I7hkyFhm5qHM&ned=us">5 additional articles.</a></p>