CIPA Data Shows Camera Sales Are Declining Again

It is probably the worst kept secret to anyone following the photographic industry but camera manufacturers have been experiencing declining sales for the last few years. The main reason is due to changing customer preference and the advancement in many smartphone cameras.

Canon, the largest photographic equipment manufacturer in the world has experience a drop in profits in their latest few quartera. They are hardly alone and based on data published by CIPA, the Japan-based Camera & Imaging Products Association, published the charts below illustrating the trend in camera sales over the past decade.

The latest CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) numbers for the last 3 years are out. It indicates camera shipments of all types have increased slightly earlier in the year but is beginning to decline again. 2016 figures are in Orange, 2015 in Black, 2014 in Blue.

It seems mirrorless cameras offered the industry a bright spot for about two years but now sales are leveling off and the increase in sales may have been at the expense of the traditional DSLR market.
There is no question smartphones have taken away some sales from the low end point-and-shoot and DSLR camera segment, but the best way to keep a photographic company relevant is to come out with the state of the art product to convince serious photographers why it is still the traditional DSLR camera that takes the best photos. What is more important than the number of DSLR sold is the mix of the sales, since low end cameras like the Rebel and SL series bring considerably less profit than the higher models like the EOS-5 and EOS-1 bodies.

The Yen has started to 'weaken' against the U.S. Dollar and other currencies. This will present some tailwinds to companies like Canon, Sony and Nikon, which are major exporting firms, selling their products overseas. Nevertheless, Canon is expected to announce more products for 2017 and beyond. Read my earlier post on Canon's roadmap for the next few years.

Canon Inc. Q3 Operating Profits Nearly Halved On Yen's Strength

Reuters reported Canon Inc.'s third quarter operating profits almost halved, mostly due to reduction in camera equipment sales and the strength of the Yen. However, Canon is not slowing down in its planned product introduction. The Canon EOS-6D Mark II, EOS-5Ds Mark II and a high end, full frame mirrorless camera are expected to come in the next year or so.


"Oct 26 Japan's Canon Inc said on Tuesday its third quarter operating profit fell 48 percent, hurt by a strengthened yen following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Operating profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 declined to 40 billion yen ($383.62 million) from 77.3 billion yen a year earlier. Five analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated an average third quarter operating profit of 58.3 billion yen.

The world's biggest maker of cameras and printers also lowered its operating profit forecast for the year through December to 235 billion yen from a 265 billion yen estimate in July. ($1 = 104.2700 yen) (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)"


We can expect a host of lower priced DSLR and point-n-shoot cameras to come in the next few months. Expect a Rebel T7i and a few PowerShot models to be announced soon. Nokishita has uncovered a bunch of Canon equipment registration with Taiwan authorities for upcoming product release, most probably for CES 2017 from January 5 - 8, 2017 in Las Vegas.


DSLR Camera Bodies

• DS126651 (Previously seen)
• Taiwan NCC (PDF document)
• Wi-Fi · Bluetooth equipped
• DS126661 (First time)
• Taiwan NCC (PDF document)
• Wi-Fi · Bluetooth equipped
• Unpublished SKU (unknown if it were a single-lens reflex): 1791C002AA, 1792C002AA

Mirror-less camera

• PC2279 (Previously seen)
• SKU : 1724C002AA, 1724C012AA, 1724C022AA, 1725C002AA, 1725C012AA, 1725C022AA
• Color : 2 colors

PowerShot Cameras

• PC2323
• SKU : 1717C002AA, 1718C002AA
• Color : Two
• PC2334 / PC2335
• SKU : 1790C002AA, 1879C001AA
• Color: 2 colors
• PC2329 / PC2332
• SKU : 1794C001AA, 1797C001AA, 1800C001AA
• Color : Three
• PC2333
• SKU : 1803C001AA, 1806C001AA, 1809C001AA
• Color : Three
• PC2325

Accessories

• EVF-DC2
• An electronic view finder
• SKU : 1727C001AA, 1882C001AA
• DS586111
• Wireless Remote Controller

Canon Inc. Q1 Profits Hit by Lower Camera and Printer Sales

The following report is from Reuters :

• Q1 operating profit falls 39 pct, more than expected
• Office equipment, compact digital camera sales slump
• Firm trying to diversify away from consumer cameras (Adds segment breakdown, context)

TOKYO, April 26, 2016 - Canon Inc. on Tuesday reported a steeper-than-expected fall in first-quarter operating profit on weaker demand for office equipment in emerging markets and slower global sales of compact digital cameras.

The world’s biggest maker of printers and cameras also cut its outlook for the full year ending December. For January-March, operating profit dropped 39 percent to 40.1 billion yen ($361.4 million), the company said. That missed the 67.74 billion yen average of five analyst estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Canon said it now expects full-year operating profit of 300 billion yen, lower than a previous forecast of 360 billion yen. Quarterly operating profit from office equipment, its biggest segment, fell 38 percent from a year earlier while profit from imaging systems such as cameras fell 33 percent.
To reduce its reliance on cameras, Canon agreed to buy Toshiba Corp’s medical equipment unit for 665.5 billion yen last month. The deal followed the purchase last May of 85 percent of Swedish video surveillance firm Axis AB.

The company, which earns about 80 percent of revenue overseas, said the yen’s appreciation in the first quarter had a negative impact on earnings. For the rest of the year, it said it expects the U.S. dollar to trade at an average of 110 yen compared with a previous assumption of 120 yen.

Are Worldwide Camera Sales Still Declining?

Canon DSLR, Mirrorless and CinemaEOS cameras and EF lens

It is probably the worst kept secret to anyone following the photographic industry but camera manufacturers have been experiencing declining sales for the last few years. The main reason is due to changing customer preference and the advancement in many smartphone cameras.

Canon, the largest photographic equipment manufacturer in the world has experience a drop in profits in their latest quarter. They are hardly alone and based on data published by CIPA, the Japan-based Camera & Imaging Products Association, Mayflower Concepts published the charts below illustrating the trend in camera sales over the past decade.

It seems mirrorless cameras offered the industry a bright spot for about two years but now sales are leveling off and the increase in sales may have been at the expense of the traditional DSLR market.
There is no question smartphones have taken away some sales from the low end point-and-shoot and DSLR camera segment, but the best way to keep a photographic company relevant is to come out with the state of the art product to convince serious photographers why it is still the traditional DSLR camera that takes the best photos. What is more important than the number of DSLR sold is the mix of the sales, since low end cameras like the Rebel and SL series bring considerably less profit than the higher models like the EOS-5 and EOS-1 bodies.

My readers know, I have been a Canon user for about 25 years. Through the decades, I have used almost all of Canon's cropped and full frame, film and digital cameras and lenses. You can see my equipment bag and works on MichaelDanielHo.com. On my recently concluded Polar bear photo shoot in the Canadian sub Arctic, I have used both my smartphone and DSLR cameras to take photos and find the two types of photography perfectly compatible with each other.  I am waiting for the EOS-1D X Mk II and EOS-5D Mk IV to debut early to mid 2016 for my next DSLR purchase.

Canon Posts Lower Q3 Profit But Lifts Full Year Forecast

* * *  Read the latest post on Canon's full frame mirrorless camera  * * *

Canon Inc. reported lower 3rd quarter profits for 2015 but raised its full year forecast due to the 'strong' US Dollar and 'weak' Japanese Yen. Going forward, the United States is expected to increase its interest rates in 2016, thereby pushing the Yen even lower and giving Canon's 2016 profit a potential further boost.

The DSLR camera segment is a matured business even though this is where Canon and many other camera makers make most of their profits. There is little Canon can do to stem the gradual loss of market share of the low end cameras to higher end smartphones. They need to concentrate on their strength and make the DSLR camera experience as enjoyable as possible for serious and professional photographers.

To that end, Canon should seriously consider introducing a prosumer to professional mirrorless camera with the same size and shape of their higher end DSLRs. The mirrorless market is here to stay and growing. The current EOS-M line is boring, brings little profit and is highly discounted.

Take a leaf from the Sony a7RII and Leica and introduce much higher end mirrorless cameras but make them look and feel more like DSLRs, like the recently announced Leica SL mirrorless camera. I and many other photographers will be interested in buying one of these cameras if Canon decides to sell one. I am a wildlife photographer and you can see my works on MichaelDanielHo.com


(Corrects dateline to Oct 27)

* Q3 operating profit falls 21 pct to 71.8 bln yen

* Steep fall had been flagged by Nikkei business daily

* Investments in new businesses also weighed on profit

* Full-year earnings forecast lifted on weaker yen

By Sophie Knight

TOKYO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Canon Inc said quarterly operating profit fell by a fifth as demand for digital cameras slumped and it spent more on developing new businesses, but it nudged up its full-year earnings estimates on a sharply weaker yen.

The consumer shift to smartphones for casual photo taking has pummelled demand for compact cameras, while the growing popularity of lighter mirrorless cameras has taken away market share from higher margin single-lens reflex cameras.


Operating profit for the July-September quarter came in at 71.8 billion yen ($665 million), not far off figures flagged by the Nikkei business daily earlier this month.

Investments to boost businesses such as video surveillance and semiconductor steppers also helped to outweigh a 11.4 billion yen contribution from a weaker yen, a company spokesman said.

Revenue fell 4.5 percent to 872.2 billion yen.

The export-reliant company lifted its operating profit forecast but it acknowledged that but for the weaker yen, it would have revised down.

It now expects 370 billion yen for the year to end December, up from a prior prediction of 365 billion yen and a 9.7 percent increase on the previous year.

While a softer yen boosts earnings for export-oriented companies, the Japanese currency's rapid descent against the greenback - around 8 percent over the July-September period - has driven up import costs and prompted complaints from Japan Inc that yen weakness has gone far enough.

"It's difficult to give an ideal level but if it stopped at its current level it wouldn't be a bad thing," said Chief Financial Officer Toshizo Tanaka.

Japan's currency is trading at around 108 yen to the dollar after having weakened to as low as 110 yen at the beginning of this month. A Reuters Corporate Survey showed in September that only one quarter of Japanese firms preferred an exchange rate of 105 yen or weaker.

Canon's shares closed up 0.8 percent on Monday ahead of results. (1 US dollar = 107.9600 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Sophie Knight; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Canon Compact Camera Sales and Q1 Profit Drop

TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Canon Inc reported first-quarter net profit that fell by almost a third on Monday, grossly undershooting expectations, citing a collapse in demand for compact digital cameras.

Profit at the world's largest camera maker fell to 33.93 billion yen ($285.27 million) in January-March, compared with the 53.64 billion yen average estimate of 5 analysts according to Thomson Reuters data.

The result comes as the world's No. 1 camera maker contends with a shift in consumer preference toward increasingly capable smartphone cameras. That shift has dragged Canon's compact sales down nearly 70 percent since the market's peak in 2008 - the year after Apple Inc released its game-changing iPhone.

"Sales volume for low-end (digital camera) models declined due to the ongoing contraction of the market in all regions from the previous year," said Canon in its earnings release.

It did not specify first-quarter compact sales, but lowered its 2015 forecast to 7.0 million cameras from 7.8 million, or 23 percent less than 2014. It projected sales of higher-end cameras with interchangeable lenses at 5.8 million rather than 6.4 million, representing a 9.4 percent on-year decline.

Canon also said, without elaborating, that first-quarter net profit was brought down by an increase in its effective tax rate as well as a euro which fell 11 percent against the yen.

The firm, which earns about 80 percent of revenue overseas, cut its euro-yen forecast for the second to fourth quarters to 130 from 135 previously. It kept its dollar-yen view at 120.

Shares of Canon closed 0.7 percent higher ahead of the release versus a 0.2 percent fall in the broader market.

NO RUSH FOR AXIS

Canon has been seeking growth opportunities to offset shrinking demand for cameras, and compacts in particular.

It plans to buy Swedish surveillance firm Axis AB for $2.7 billion - offering 340 crowns ($39.31) a share until the extended deadline of May 5 - and as of Friday owned 84 percent. It does not plan to up its offer even though hedge fund Elliott Management has since raised its ownership to 10 percent.

A Canon executive on Monday said the firm was not considering offering Elliott a higher price, and that it was in no hurry for a complete takeover.

"Of course owning it 100 percent would give us more freedom in operating it but there's not necessarily any rush," Toshizo Tanaka, executive vice president and chief financial officer, told reporters at an earnings briefing.