Canon recently presented its business results for the second quarter of 2022 and predicted an upturn in the camera market. The company released a detailed analysis and breakdown of its performance at the end of July.
Despite factors such as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict, Shanghai’s COVID lockdown and accelerating global inflation, Canon reported that demand for its products remained firm. The company has several divisions covering printing, imaging, medical and industrial business sectors. Across all divisions, Canon saw its net sales increase by 13.3 percent to 998.8 billion yen — around $7.5 billion.
Canon’s Imaging Division
Canon’s camera production falls within the Imaging Division. This area of the business reported that fewer camera bodies were sold than last year. This was due to product shortages caused by a global shortage of parts and Shanghai’s COVID lockdown. However, despite these issues, the Imaging Division achieved double-digit growth in both sales and profit due to high sales figures for lenses.
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Canon EOS R system
Canon predicted that camera body production will increase in the second half of this year. The company also confirmed that it had seen increased sales of full-frame mirrorless cameras. There was also a significant increase in RF lens sales. In addition, Canon confirmed the launch of the EOS R7 and EOS R10 APS-C cameras and announced RF-S lenses designed specifically for these crop sensor mirrorless cameras.
Q&As
Canon published a Q&A document alongside the company results. One question asked the company about its outlook on the camera market going forward. Canon’s response was: “The camera market has largely bottomed out at its current size. Going forward, we expect the professional and advanced amateur segment to expand further, and that products will become more highly developed. Accordingly, we expect the overall market to grow from now on.”
The future of the camera market
Canon is being very positive about the future of the camera market going forwards and expects sales to rise. However, there was a question that asked if the company would continue to offer both Mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Canon simply responded: “As for DSLR cameras, we will continue to supply products as long as there is demand.” It does therefore look as though the days of the DSLR are numbered.