Today’s Question: I just saw an article indicating that DxO Labs, the current owner of the Nik Collection, has filed for bankruptcy. Are you concerned this could mean the end of the Nik Collection forever?
Tim’s Quick Answer: I’m not too concerned, for two reasons. One, I suspect that this bankruptcy (or receivership) may have been primarily the result of poor sales of the DxO One camera for the iPhone. Two, the Nik Collection update from DxO Labs helped ensure the software would run on most computer configurations, which in turn means there’s a good chance this software will continue to function for some time even if there aren’t any future updates.
More Detail: Naturally whenever a company files for any form of bankruptcy protection it is reasonable to be concerned that the company will go out of business altogether. At least for now, that doesn’t appear to be the case with DxO Labs.
DxO Labs filed for bankruptcy protection in March of this year. A press release issued at the time (though since removed from the DxO Labs website) indicated the process was only expected to last for a few weeks. All indications are that the company is continuing to operate normally, more than six months after the initial filing.
DxO Labs also announced in June that the DxO One camera for the iPhone was being discontinued. I suspect this provides a clue about what may be the core reason for the bankruptcy filing. Selling hardware, after all, can be a considerably more expensive and challenging business than selling software.
So, it remains to be seen if there will be any additional negative implications from this situation, but for now it seems DxO Labs continues to operate normally, at least as far as the software business is concerned.
If you have purchased the Nik Collection from DxO Software, note that I have produced a comprehensive video course that covers the full collection. This course can be found on the GreyLearning website here: