Why has Nikon stopped making rifle scopes?

Suburban Rifleman, a smaller Youtube channel that talks about rifles and guns, is speculating why Nikon exited the rifle scope business over one year ago. He was very surprised to see that Nikon's website is completely clear of any mention of rifle scopes, and he believes they exited the business for political reasons. He said, if that was the case, he doesn't want to buy any Nikon product again.

The website Rifle Scope Reviews reported on this in late 2018 and gives us some good insight by getting Nikon's own response:

The Nikon rep I spoke with indicated that the reps had been told that the decision was based on two factors: 

- The scopes that Nikon produced were marketed towards the entry level to mid-level range of the rifle scope market, which is extremely competitive, and it wasn’t really a very profitable market for them. 

- Nikon wanted to divert the resources of their Sporting Optics division towards the more profitable product families of that division, which are spotting scopes, range finders, and binoculars. 

This news somewhat makes sense because in the beginning of 2018, Nikon abruptly changed the distribution model of their rifle scope division when they transitioned from an open supply chain over to a registered dealer only program. This change meant that Nikon rifle scopes were no longer being sold through the traditional wholesale supply chain. Instead, Nikon migrated over to a very focused dealer direct program, where only a registered Nikon Optics dealer could access and sell their rifle scope line.

Those who follow Nikon closely know that the company is restructuring in recent years. They are closing factories, laying off overseas workers, closing down some service centers and offices with the intention to scale down to the level of business they have right now. A level that is half as big as in the good old times some 7 to 8 years ago. This is the main reason Nikon exited the rifle scope business as well as other businesses (such as action cameras, high-end compact cameras etc). Check also my post Despite losses Nikon is a financially sound company. 

Not everything is doom and gloom for Nikon, though. Watch my video and get to know what still makes them so amazing: