[Winder]

Canon Profits Down 21% as Mirrorless Cameras Cut Into DSLR Sales

[Steve.Ledger]

It seems that photographers moving from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras aren’t choosing Canon’s mirrorless offerings.

No surprises there....
People moving from Pentax DSLRs to mirrorless camera are not choosing Pentax mirrorless offerings either, for the same fundamental reasons.

[VisualDarkness]

Not surprising at all. Canon still got the pro market, but I bet that they have lost a lot of the enthusiast one to mirrorless makers like Sony and Fuji. Their defensive stand against mirrorless might dig them a deep hole. It isnt like they dont have the resources to enter that market but they are afraid of fragmentation.

[normhead]

Yawn....

[UncleVanya]

What worries me id's how they may respond. They may try to compete on price inn the enthusiast market in a way that kills the margins and removes Ricoh's incentive to compete. Then again such a move might expose Canon to to much bleeding of capital. Hard time to be a camera company.

I predict this will not negatively impact Ricoh.

[rawr]

Digital cameras are only a part of a large, diversified company.

The investor documentation Canon provides about their 3Q results (PDF, 300k) makes it clear that their camera business is getting by OK:

...
Within the Imaging System Business Unit, although total sales volume of interchangeable-lens digital cameras declined due to market shrinkage, sales of interchangeable-lens digital cameras increased from the same period of the previous year in Japan and Europe owing to healthy demand for such new models as the EOS 5DS, EOS 5DS R, EOS Rebel T6i/EOS 750D, EOS Rebel T6s/EOS 760D and EOS M3. As for digital compact cameras, while sales volume declined amid the ongoing contraction of the market due to the effects of the growing popularity of smartphones, profitability improved thanks to the growing ratio of high-added-value models featuring high image quality and high-magnification zoom capabilities, such as the new PowerShot SX710 HS and PowerShot G3 X.

Outlook
... As for interchangeable-lens digital cameras, despite the strong recovery in Japan, the U.S. and Western Europe, the market is expected to shrink due to the deterioration of the economies in the Asian region and other factors. While the digital compact camera market is also expected to shrink, demand for high-added-value models featuring high image quality and high-magnification zoom capabilities is expected to grow steadily.

What their 3Q results do suggest is that they will be focussing more on higher end products in future, since the demand is there and they are more profitable.

[RobA_Oz]

Digital cameras are only a part of a large, diversified company.

The investor documentation Canon provides about their 3Q results (PDF, 300k) makes it clear that their camera business is getting by OK:

What their 3Q results do suggest is that they will be focussing more on higher end products in future, since the demand is there and they are more profitable.

I did wonder about that, but the "mirrorless is taking over the world" theme seems to have mesmerised some people into citing it as the cause for everything that happens to camera makers, regardless of how diversified they may be. Thanks for letting a little more light (natural, not artificial) into the discussion.

[mecrox]

It's difficult to know what to believe, really. The changing value of the Yen complicates the picture for a start. And it seems as if almost everyone out there (not necessarily on here) is urging Canon on to fail. I guess they are the company everyone loves to hate. The report does seem to harp on "high-added-value models" so I guess all the companies including Ricoh are migrating to higher ground up the market. It must be getting pretty crowded there. Maybe part of the problem is saturation, and maybe that won't change until something so obviously an improvement arrives that folks will think it worth upgrading that DSLR they've had for quite a few years already because it still works fine. I do wonder whether both Canon and Nikon manage to keep their sales figures looking more or less all right, for their investors, by dumping off stock into greyish markets at tiny margins. Who knows. The report doesn't seem that bad, anyway. At least Canon are still in profit, unlike some.

[osv]

Digital cameras are only a part of a large, diversified company.

The investor documentation Canon provides about their 3Q results (PDF, 300k) makes it clear that their camera business is getting by OK:

that might be a bit optimistic: "...During the third quarter, despite a gradual recovery in sales of interchangeable-lens digital cameras in Japan and Europe, severe conditions continued in other regions while sales volume for digital compact cameras decreased compared with the same period of the previous year."

i suspect that "severe conditions continued in other regions" means that canon dslr sales are eating **** in their biggest dslr markets cipa data for 2015 says that well under half of all dslr sales go to europe and japan, while the lions share goes to the americas and asia. http://www.cipa.jp/stats/documents/e/d-201508_e.pdf

the analyst recommendations are to hold canon stock, pretty much the same recommendation that it's had all year.

[Na Horuk]

I'm not sure that Canon's announced "loss of profit" is all about DSRLs. Doesnt Canon do a lot of other stuff, as well? Printers, P&S..
And even if they lose 21% of profit, which might be a lot, its still just profit. So they are still making a profit, just not as much as last year (which may have been exceptionally good? I didn't check how representative last year was for them)

The article was written by a journalist, right? Not a business analyst or any other relevant profession

[goldenarrow]

What "strong recovery" are they talking about? Everyone I know are not spending a dime on non-essentials. Grocery stores, some restaurants, and premium gasoline are seeing increases in sales where I live. Can't eat a camera.

Also, just anecdotally, my brother is looking to get back into photography and is choosing a less expensive Olympus 4/3 mirrorless. The cost, size, and weight are right for him and is really good at evaluating what technologies can do for him.

[RobA_Oz]

…the analyst recommendations are to hold canon stock, pretty much the same recommendation that it's had all year.

The same advice as for Ricoh, I recall.

[osv]

The same advice as for Ricoh, I recall.