Canon Looking to Acquire Imaging Companies for Growth? [CR2]

[Canon Rumors]

We’re told that Canon is actively looking at acquiring imaging companies for growth. Canon did indeed attempt to acquire Sigma (something we didn’t believe until recently), but was rejected by Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki as he attempts to make Sigma the best lens manufacturer in the world. Most people suspected the acquisition was for foveon patents, as Canon is actively developing layered sensors, but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts. There are a ton of EF lenses out there, and Canon wants to keep them relevant moving forward, even into the mirrorless space.</p>
<p>Canon had also looked at the books of Swedish camera company Hasselblad many years ago, but that was probably never a serious interest. There just isn’t enough potential volume in medium format for any significant growth. I was told that the global market for medium format digital back is about 5000 units per year.</p>
<p>While Canon is moving slowly into the security business, they believe growth for imaging will come from two places, the professional video market and acquisition of an imaging company. While they’re well on their way in developing Cinema EOS, and we can expect an “A” camera from Canon at NAB in April, the photography market remains stagnant.</p>
<p>We weren’t told what companies Canon may be targeting, only that things are actively moving in that direction.</p>
<p>More to come…</p>

 

[pedro]

Sorry for the asking, but as I am not a 100 percent sure: an "A" camera would mean an 1D body?

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Sorry for the asking, but as I am not a 100 percent sure: an "A" camera would mean an 1D body?

I super doubt that. I'd say it means an ultra high end Cxx I'd imagine. I think that remark, giving what the sentence fragment before it was talking about, refers to a Hollywood "A cam". I.E. the top of the line, no compromises, you use this camera type to shoot all the major scenes you can with and opposed to some 'B' camera for fill in scenes or where the camera might get blown up or smashed or you simply can't work some big, $$$$$$$$, "A cam" and whatnot, like for stunts and really crazy action.

 

[Wizardly]

This makes me wonder if anyone is actively courting Samsung for their camera assets.

 

[Wizardly]

"but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts."

Would they really want to make Canon lenses for say Nikon though? They seem to treat their lenses as the main thing that holds some back from switching. Of course maybe they see lenses, more than bodies, as the only way to make money in the future.

But maybe it's more just buy Sigma, eat them, no longer lose any Canon lens sales to Sigma and make the other brands look even less enticing lens wise?

Yes!(!!!) You get a wholly owned subsidiary with name recognition and you then get to eat into your competition's market share directly. You get to offer a lower tier lens that does not compete with your proprietary mount. And you get all of the intellectual property that comes from reverse engineering the lens mounts of every major manufacturer without having to spend years doing it yourself.

"the photography market remains stagnant."

how can they cry about a stagnant market, when all they do is conservatively hold back, hold back, milk the old stuff, don't move forward too fast, hold back, stagnate, stagnate and play it safe?

Who's crying? They're profitable. Massively profitable. They simply accept the reality of the market and don't go on fools errands. You'd say conservative, but in reality it's discipline. This is the sort of discipline that Sony is learning, Samsung is facing, and that is keeping Nikon in business. In fact Samsung is an object lesson in this regard - probably the best specified APS-C camera on the market but it just doesn't make them any money. As a photographer do you buy every single new body that comes out and every single new lens that comes out that is heralded as the new best, or do you actually try to make money off of the gear you already have? Wouldn't you run your S&P 500 company the same way?

 

[Luds34]

"but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts."

Would they really want to make Canon lenses for say Nikon though? They seem to treat their lenses as the main thing that holds some back from switching. Of course maybe they see lenses, more than bodies, as the only way to make money in the future.

I read that differently. Canon has many excellent designs on the EF mount. They would use Sigma's expertise in having the same design on many mounts to move their own EF designs to their own future mirrorless designs.

 

[Canon Rumors]

I fixed the Danish/Swedish thing, thanks for correcting me.

Sorry for the asking, but as I am not a 100 percent sure: an "A" camera would mean an 1D body?

An "A" camera would be the main camera used in a film production, currently that space is dominated by ARRI.

"but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts."

Would they really want to make Canon lenses for say Nikon though? They seem to treat their lenses as the main thing that holds some back from switching. Of course maybe they see lenses, more than bodies, as the only way to make money in the future.

It's more that Canon has some challenges in getting EF lenses to work as they're designed with mirrorless cameras. Adaptors and natively adapting to a mirrorless camera is the biggest challenge facing Canon when it comes to making a splash in mirrorless. They can't ignore 110 million lenses (I think that's what it's at) if the market really does move to mirrorless domination eventually. This was a hypothesis by the source...

 

[jeffa4444]

Canon move into the professional cinematography market is also into a crowded place. Not only have Sony and Panasonic been in that market for many years they are up against new entrants like Black Magic & AJA and established companies like Arri, Red & Panavision.
Sony, Canon, Black Magic et al. have come to the higher end thinking about broadcast video but thats light years away from how cinematographer & their crew shoot TV series, Commercials or Features and Red but more particularly Arri really understand the market which is why they dominate. Optically Panavision with both spherical & anamorphic lenses are the company to beat. Arri have launched a 6.5K 65mm camera and Panavision has the Primo 70 lenses as well as 70mm anamorphic lenses its a field much more complex that 35mm & APS-C stills cameras & lenses.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

"but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts."

Would they really want to make Canon lenses for say Nikon though? They seem to treat their lenses as the main thing that holds some back from switching. Of course maybe they see lenses, more than bodies, as the only way to make money in the future.

I read that differently. Canon has many excellent designs on the EF mount. They would use Sigma's expertise in having the same design on many mounts to move their own EF designs to their own future mirrorless designs.

Acquisition of Sigma would provide what Canon really needs, and that's production capacity and trained Japanese workers. Canon does not have enough production capacity, and hiring trained workers, or workers at all is a huge issue in Japan. Contract employees from other countries are being used in huge numbers, but its a big issue, many of the contract workers are treated poorly by the contract companies and are short term employees where the lens industry needs lots of experience to manufacturer high end lenses.

So, acquisition of Sigma would have been a big plumb for Canon, but regulators in Europe may have frowned on such a deal.

Canon is sitting on a decent amount of cash, so they are able to snatch bargains if they occur. Canon is willing to pay big $$ if the fit is right.

 

[AvTvM]

I'd like Canon to buy either
* Sony's camera business if they want to spend big $$$$
so they finally learn how to make good mirrorless cameras with APS-C and FF-sensors
* or Samsung's failing camera unit if they want to buy on the cheap
so Canon learns how to make a great APS-C mirrorless cam and even more importantly, can skip 10 years of sensor tech R&D, since that neato Samsung 28 MP sensor is about 3 generations ahead of the latest Canon APS-C sensor right now.

Anything else makes no sense to me:
* m43 (Oly, Panasonic) ... not interesting, no money to be made there in the future
* Ricoh/Pentax - no market share, no specific technology, and their MF system has no future
* Nikon - too much overlap and all sorts of antitrust measures being imposed.
* Fujifilm - chemical film plus a nice, but APS-C only MILC lineup - not much future there either
* Tamron, Tokina - nothing there to learn for Canon and unlike Sigma not enough competition to take them out
* Leica - way too expensive, hehe! ;D

 

[AJ]

Maybe Canon is looking to get into the smartphone business.

 

[StudentOfLight]

"but that acquisition may have also been for Sigma’s expertise in adapting lenses for multiple mounts."

Would they really want to make Canon lenses for say Nikon though? They seem to treat their lenses as the main thing that holds some back from switching. Of course maybe they see lenses, more than bodies, as the only way to make money in the future.

I read that differently. Canon has many excellent designs on the EF mount. They would use Sigma's expertise in having the same design on many mounts to move their own EF designs to their own future mirrorless designs.

Acquisition of Sigma would provide what Canon really needs, and that's production capacity and trained Japanese workers. Canon does not have enough production capacity, and hiring trained workers, or workers at all is a huge issue in Japan. Contract employees from other countries are being used in huge numbers, but its a big issue, many of the contract workers are treated poorly by the contract companies and are short term employees where the lens industry needs lots of experience to manufacturer high end lenses.

So, acquisition of Sigma would have been a big plumb for Canon, but regulators in Europe may have frowned on such a deal.

Canon is sitting on a decent amount of cash, so they are able to snatch bargains if they occur. Canon is willing to pay big $$ if the fit is right.

Are lens sales increasing at the moment? I assumed they were pretty flat or in decline as is the case with camera sales.

 

[unfocused]

...they believe growth for imaging will come from two places, the professional video market and acquisition of an imaging company.

I'm not even sure what constitutes an imaging company today. Would a company like Ricoh be considered an imaging company? Are we talking about a sensor manufacturer? And, what would be the benefit to Canon to buy a sensor maker. Seems like only a benefit if you buy into the whole "Sony is wonderful" b.s. I doubt Canon buys into that.

What I do think would be interesting would be Kenko-Tokina or Manfrotto purchase. That would be more of a horizontal integration, and I know unlikely. But still interesting. They could sell Hoya filters under a Canon brand name. Slik was once the best known tripod and stand manufacturer in the U.S. at least. The name still has a decent value I suspect. Finally, I think the quality of Tokina lenses is more in line with Canon than either Sigma or Tamron. Tokina doesn't make a lot of lenses and they seem to be under-capitalized and slow to market, but what they do make is very good.

Manfrotto would also offer some good opportunities for Canon as well -- support systems and lighting in particular. Especially if they focus on the video market. It would be interesting to see a marriage of Canon's lighting technology with a a company like Manfrotto to produce new products for the cinema and video market.

Just idle daydreaming on my part.

 

[Stu_bert]

I wonder if that makes someone like Lytro a potential buyout target?

Is Lytro too niche a product (just thinking out loud) ?

I certainly read that Canon are looking to bolster their capabilities, not buy a competitor per-se. Sigma's manufacturing and expertise gives them a step up in mirrorless as stated.

If Lytro-like capabilities are on their roadmap, then such an acquisition would make sense if they wanted to integrate it into future bodies.

I would certainly think they're looking at some of the startups which may have cutting edge tech which may help them leapfrog the current status-quo, I'm just not sure whether buying a major sensor or camera maker would make sense / would be received favourably (admittence of failure and the implications thereafter)

I also think they have broader horizons that just photography, and therefore more acquisition in other areas to gain some market share also makes sense to me. They need to maintain their position in photography as it shrinks, and mirrorless is part of that equation. But they also need to expand into other markets as the revenue in photography has not bottomed out / levelled out.

Maybe they will get into automotive sensors and the like through acquisition, or even smartphone sensors. Sure Sony may have half the market (not sure what the latest figures say), but that still leaves a sizeable chunk for Canon. Or partner up with someone on the Internet of Things - so we can all have tiny sensors in our homes as all our devices talk to each other and exchange photos (ok, the first part was serious, the last not so much)

But all of these would I think, be a first for Canon as I was not aware they OEMd for other people (I wait to be corrected..).

 

[9VIII]

I think it's just fantastic that Canon actually thinks Sigma is worth buying out, that's great news for Sigma.
Now if only Sigma would actually put out a reasonably priced and well thought out consumer level body to use their own lenses with.

Otherwise I want Canon and Sigma to do a technology swap. Canon wants Foveon, and Sigma could see massive benefits if they got official AF support from Canon.
I doubt that Sigma has actually made any money off Foveon, and the longer that patent sits unused the less it's worth, so licensing it in exchange for making their lenses AF properly on Canon bodies would actually give them something in return.

 

[horshack]

I think it's just fantastic that Canon actually thinks Sigma is worth buying out, that's great news for Sigma.
Now if only Sigma would actually put out a reasonably priced and well thought out consumer level body to use their own lenses with.

Otherwise I want Canon and Sigma to do a technology swap. Canon wants Foveon, and Sigma could see massive benefits if they got official AF support from Canon.
I doubt that Sigma has actually made any money off Foveon, and the longer that patent sits unused the less it's worth, so licensing it in exchange for making their lenses AF properly on Canon bodies would actually give them something in return.

I would venture to guess that Canon's interest in Sigma is more about taking out a competitor that is offering great lenses at low prices rather than to get Sigma's technology or manufacturing/labor resources.

 

[pj1974]

I'd like Canon to buy either
* Sony's camera business if they want to spend big $$$$
so they finally learn how to make good mirrorless cameras with APS-C and FF-sensors
* or Samsung's failing camera unit if they want to buy on the cheap
so Canon learns how to make a great APS-C mirrorless cam and even more importantly, can skip 10 years of sensor tech R&D, since that neato Samsung 28 MP sensor is about 3 generations ahead of the latest Canon APS-C sensor right now.

Anything else makes no sense to me:
* m43 (Oly, Panasonic) ... not interesting, no money to be made there in the future
* Ricoh/Pentax - no market share, no specific technology, and their MF system has no future
* Nikon - too much overlap and all sorts of antitrust measures being imposed.
* Fujifilm - chemical film plus a nice, but APS-C only MILC lineup - not much future there either
* Tamron, Tokina - nothing there to learn for Canon and unlike Sigma not enough competition to take them out
* Leica - way too expensive, hehe! ;D

I agree with you on most of these points, AvTvM….

In particular I feel it could be a win-win if Canon would buy Samsung’s Camera Division, specifically for their awesome 28MP APS-C sensor that are in the NX1 and NX500. Combine that with Canon’s DPAF technology – and that really could be a good thing! I really want to keep Canon ergonomics, image colours, menus and lenses!)

I think there is a place for Sony to remain separate, i.e. a totally independent competitor in the digital camera market
Somewhat similarly with Sigma (and to a lesser extent, Tamron & Tokina) it is good to have 3rd party lenses… with their own innovation and competition!

Regards

Paul 8)

 

[davidmurray]

I'd like Canon to buy either
* Sony's camera business if they want to spend big $$$$
so they finally learn how to make good mirrorless cameras with APS-C and FF-sensors
* or Samsung's failing camera unit if they want to buy on the cheap
so Canon learns how to make a great APS-C mirrorless cam and even more importantly, can skip 10 years of sensor tech R&D, since that neato Samsung 28 MP sensor is about 3 generations ahead of the latest Canon APS-C sensor right now.

Anything else makes no sense to me:
* m43 (Oly, Panasonic) ... not interesting, no money to be made there in the future
* Ricoh/Pentax - no market share, no specific technology, and their MF system has no future
* Nikon - too much overlap and all sorts of antitrust measures being imposed.
* Fujifilm - chemical film plus a nice, but APS-C only MILC lineup - not much future there either
* Tamron, Tokina - nothing there to learn for Canon and unlike Sigma not enough competition to take them out
* Leica - way too expensive, hehe! ;D

Not convinced that the way to build up a business is to buy a failing business. Samsung doesn't have expertise in knowing what in a camera photographers want in a camera. Canon does.
If Canon wants to increase market share they should buy Nicon. I think Canon already has expertize in optics and photography and in cameras.

 

[apersson850]

Canon are also getting into other business than pure photography. They recently acquired Swedish networking and communication specialist Axis, as well as large scale electronic printing specialists Océ (which in turn is a merger of medium scale printer manufacturer Océ and large scale printer manufacturer Siemens-Nixdorf) some years ago.

Albeit the latter seemed like a somewhat desperate action, since Océ was kind of the only one left to buy, after Ricoh acquired IBM Infoprint and Fuji bought into Xerox and Delphax. In the large scale electronic printing business, now only former photography giant Kodak as well as IT giant Hewlett-Packard are still running on their own.

 

[Tugela]

I'd like Canon to buy either
* Sony's camera business if they want to spend big $$$$
so they finally learn how to make good mirrorless cameras with APS-C and FF-sensors
* or Samsung's failing camera unit if they want to buy on the cheap
so Canon learns how to make a great APS-C mirrorless cam and even more importantly, can skip 10 years of sensor tech R&D, since that neato Samsung 28 MP sensor is about 3 generations ahead of the latest Canon APS-C sensor right now.

Anything else makes no sense to me:
* m43 (Oly, Panasonic) ... not interesting, no money to be made there in the future
* Ricoh/Pentax - no market share, no specific technology, and their MF system has no future
* Nikon - too much overlap and all sorts of antitrust measures being imposed.
* Fujifilm - chemical film plus a nice, but APS-C only MILC lineup - not much future there either
* Tamron, Tokina - nothing there to learn for Canon and unlike Sigma not enough competition to take them out
* Leica - way too expensive, hehe! ;D

Not convinced that the way to build up a business is to buy a failing business. Samsung doesn't have expertise in knowing what in a camera photographers want in a camera. Canon does.
If Canon wants to increase market share they should buy Nicon. I think Canon already has expertize in optics and photography and in cameras.

Samsung have expertise in the silicon side of cameras however, far in advance of Canon. Buying out Samsung's camera division would provide them with access to advanced sensor technology and modern processors, both areas where Canon lag in.