Canon 3Q financials: Sales slumped as people waited for new products

Canon released it's third-quarter financials, and the reports are not good from the imaging department. Canon blames the slump in sales on the fact that Nikon, Canon, and Panasonic were all announcing brand new camera lines at the same time, causing a disruption in overall sales for the third quarter they just reported on. They sold 1.06 million cameras in the third quarter this year, down 19% from the year prior and revised their overall outlook for the year down to 5.1 million units down from their expected 5.5 million units.

Additionally, the successive announcements made by manufacturers, including Canon, of entering the full-frame mirrorless camera market has led to temporary restrained buying of advanced-amateur models. Compared to the same period last year, during which we launched two new models, our sales declined by 22.4% in the third quarter.

In light of such circumstances, we decided to reduce our full-year sales projection from 5.5 million units to 5.1 million units. We also lowered our outlook for the market from 11.0 million units to 10.5 million units, mainly factoring in our revised outlook for the entry-class DSLR market. Although we lowered both projections, we expect our market share to continue rising thanks to strong growth in each region for such new products as the EOS M50.

The M50 continues to be a successful camera body for Canon;

As for the mirrorless camera, despite being an entry-class model, the EOS M50 features shooting functions equivalent to those found in higher-end models. By introducing new products such as the EOS M50, which also realizes user-friendly operation, even for people that are just getting into photography, we continue to post solid results, successfully capturing first-time users of interchangeable-lens cameras.

Canon continues to be bullish about where they will end up in the marketplace overall including mirrorless;

Responding to the needs of all users by equally treating mirrorless and DSLR models is central to our full-lineup strategy. Pro models on top, advanced-amateur models for users seeking high image quality, and entry-level models to expand our base, all underpinned by our wealth of lenses that meet a wide range of image capturing needs, are the source for our EOS system strength. Leveraging our lineup that has been further strengthened by the introduction of the EOS R, we will work to accelerate sales toward the year-end selling season. We will also continue to launch new products going forward, as well as focus on realizing the overwhelming No. 1 position also in the mirrorless camera segment.