Canon has decided to release an interim financial report for the time period of January 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019 for the following reason.
We are pleased to provide this overview of the first half (from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019) of our 119th Business Term.
The world economy in the first half of this term saw a slowdown in growth as a whole due to a deceleration in European economy and the effect of the lingering U.S.-China trade friction.
Under such conditions, corporate demand for office multifunction devices and laser printers stagnated, while the markets for digital cameras and inkjet printers continued to shrink. As a result, both Office Business Unit and Imaging System Business Unit experienced a decrease in sales. Sales of the Medical System Business Unit, which delivered strong sales results for computed tomography (CT) systems and other products in the Americas, increased. On the other hand, sales of the Industry and Others Business Unit, which includes semiconductor lithography equipment, decreased as customers continued to adjust their capital investment.
As a result of the above, on a consolidated basis, net sales for the first half of this term decreased by 10.0% year on year, while net income attributable to Canon Inc. decreased by 51.2% year on year. For the interim dividend, we decided to pay 80.00 yen per share, which is the same amount as the interim dividend for the previous term, from the perspective of ensuring stable returns to shareholders.
Although the business environment surrounding the Canon Group remains fluid, we will endeavor to improve our business results by further improving the competitiveness of our products and services not only in existing businesses, but also in steadily growing new businesses.
We look forward to our shareholders’ continued support and encouragement.
You can download the full report from Canon Global here.
Sony certainly files the same number of reports, but their camera division is proportionally way smaller in relation to the overall size of Sony. Their reports have to cover a much broader cross section of industries, so there will be less detail for those more interested in cameras than in corporate profits.
Yeah .. .brilliant idea.
Bet you'd get a pink slip for that blurb if you ever worked for Canon.
Canon actually bit a near a 25% chunk out of Sony's full frame camera sales in Japan last year, so I doubt any of their management are foolish enough to entertain pipe dreams. Effective managers don't knee-jerk decisions by just single year changes.
Another way to look at it is that Sony took a 40% (or whatever) chunk of Canon's FF camera sales. Canon's share of the MILC market has come not at Sony's expense, but at the expense of DSLRs (mostly their own), sales of which are plummeting.
I think the first line in this article does make it sound like this report is a knee jerk reaction to a critical problem (emphasis mine) - "Canon has decided to release an interim financial report for the time period of January 1, 2019 – June 30, 2019 for the following reason:". Did Canon actually say it was released for this reason or was that added?
I would guess that as well. Changes in the market will require from them to scale back production and raise margins - but they can only do that (and survive) in high end parts. Don't see how innovation can here help them too much (in expanding demand), as overall demand shrinks and market is saturated.
The issue is not so much Cameras, but the really big dollar corporate accounts which involve very large transactions. Its a offshoot of the financial uncertainty in the world market. Corporations are just waiting to see what is going to happen with tarriffs and trade balances.
If it continues this way, we are all going to be severely impacted.
I believe smartphones don't just replace better cameras, I believe screen-time affects so much of our lives that people are engaging less with the world. Fewer kids involved in sports, fewer new members in all kinds of clubs, from bowling leagues to camera clubs, to churches. Those who stay in more tend to take less photos or see any need for something more than a smartphone to capture "moments" with family/friends.
Another factor which might be negligible or not: Street photography ain't what it used to be. It seems to me, from personal experience and news stories and anecdotes told by friends who travel, in general, people on the street are much less friendly about being photographed. Even at old standby events such as art festivals, renaissance fairs, etc. People love selfies, but hate being photographed by strangers. Does this make sense? So once a photographer finds that one previously accessible, interesting source of subject matter is becoming more difficult and even scary, that's another discouraging factor.
(Also, regarding street photography, so many people are looking at their screens or talking on their phones, getting candid shots of people with interesting expressions is tougher than ever!)
Binge watching series is another culprit...