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
I’ve certainly stopped buying all except absolutely needed equipment. If used equipment drops a bunch in price, I might be tempted.
set the bar really low so if they they go above it it’ll be a good year….
all these companies are worried about a recession but there are a lot of people here in Canada who want to by there products but we cant because there not available to us to buy. If Canon lays off people because there afraid people wont buy then they wont have anything to sell, nothing to sell, nothing to buy. I wonder how many 5dII bodies are sitting around in cash strapped American stores.
And yet the 5d mkII is nowhere to be found in scandinavia. No f**king wonder they’re not doing any money. Prebooked in Sept, still waiting. April is what I’m hearing now. This sucks.
Which Canon products other than the 5D MK2 can’t be bought in Canada? The 5D MK II is a very tiny item in Canon’s overall sales. Canon has many products like printers and commercial items that are also slow selling. Having a ton of 5D’s available would not make a noticible difference in the total sales.