their sales went down because they dont have anything smart to offer to consumers. 100d, 700d, 60d? same old technology, nothing new. 70d will probably change that, but 2-3 months before it gets to store? absolute bollocks
canon, nikon, sony,.. most profit comes from entry level dslrs.
Everyone I know recently has purchased a Canon entry level camera. A lot particularly like the small-ish size of the 100D, one purchased the 60Da for astrophotography. Not a single one purchased a Nikon or a Sony. The one guy I do know who purchased a Nikon in the last year bought a D800 for his professional portraiture.
I agree that a significant portion of profit generally comes from the higher volume items that sell like hotcakes to the massive consumer sector...however I don't believe that primarily means Canon is not selling entry-level products.
I do believe the economy factors in here. It may seem like we have "recovered", but the fundamental issues that caused financial markets to crash five years ago are still in place. They are just glossed over, hidden, ignored, or otherwise skirted around by any and all parties who have the power to actually change something. Until that underlying fact changes *for real*, I think people are going to keep a tight watch on their pocket books. That doesn't mean people in general (and I don't just mean the US, but in general for any moderately large or larger economy) will stop spending entirely...just that they will continue to be more careful with their purchases.
Just look at the PC market...it used to race...people would upgrade their computers every couple of years. Now? People are content to save $1000, $1500, $2500 and keep using their current PC, and augment it with a tablet or a phone that only costs $400, $600, $800 instead. People on a mass scale won't regularly start buying PCs to replace their existing ones, or buy more expensive cameras, or more expensive lenses, etc. on a regular basis again until the underlying economic force that is subtly telling them to save their money truly changes for the better.