From Reuters
Canon’s Mitarai Calls Holiday Sales, Outlook Weak, Reuters Says
By Patrick Rial
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — Canon Inc.’s 2008 holiday sales were “disappointing†and the world’s largest maker of digital cameras expects 2009 to be its “worst year,†Chairman Fujio Mitarai said, according to a Reuters report.
“This year must be the worst†for camera sales and the economy, Mitarai said, speaking in Seoul, South Korea, according to the report. Mitarai is also chairman of Keidanren, Japan’s largest business lobby.
Assessment
Well this is great news! Seriously though, I think a lot of Chairman's are saying the same thing.
I don't expect this outlook to alter product launches all that much. The new Rebel and compacts are a given.
What about the pro stuff? There will definately be a new pro body and pro lenses introduced in 2009. We have the winter Olympics and World Cup in 2010. You can't be going into these events with sparse stock levels. It all needs to be out the door before the end of the year.
cr
9 Comments
Well Canon is a large company, with large exposure to corporate spending via high-end office, television, etc. equipment. That stuff has probably tanked. It’s not just about the SLRs
new 24-70L IS will help canon build some sales
update those general purpose lenses
doesn’t get much worse than 2007 and the failure of the 1DIII and 2008 with the crappy 50D and 5D2 troubles…
They need a flagship 1D to dethrone the D3X…
Canon needs more Pro equipment. Better Cameras, Faster Flashes and more High-End F2.8 Lenses… I want a 24-105 F2.8. My 24-70 is too short sometimes.
Enough with consumer and Pro-Sumer cheap stuff!
Your right the 5DII is just one camera but the bad feelings relate to all there products. As to all the other equipment there is still a whole lot of companies and tv stations that still need to make the switch to HD video, I would have thought there would be a lot of that happening this year.