Canon Profits down - Does anyone have anymore info on this news report?

chantu wrote in post #17763573
Smartphones are causing consumer demand for compact cameras to shrivel up, while mirrorless cameras are eating away at Canon’s market share for DSLRs, which have higher profit margins.
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But if Canon market share in dSLRs went down, that seems to be somewhat counter to the statement, "unit sales of interchangeable-lens digital cameras increased from the same period of the previous year".

chantu wrote in post #17763573
My main point is this:
Reuters reports that a shifting digital camera landscape are to blame for Canon’s weakening business. Smartphones are causing consumer demand for compact cameras to shrivel up, while mirrorless cameras are eating away at Canon’s market share for DSLRs, which have higher profit margins.

I don't think anyone can deny the strong offerings by Sony of late. Hopefully this will compel Canon to do likewise - in sensor technology and mirrorless.

DSLR is still king, period. If mirrorless cameras start outselling DSLRs by wide margins, then yes, Canon will have to focus more on mirrorless. That isn't happening though and likely never will until they are capable of double digit FPS, much better battery life, better AF systems, better ergonomics etc....Also, there are still PLENTY of photographers like myself who absolutely hate EVFs and refuse to buy a camera that has one until they improve a LOT.

Didn't we go through this argument about film versus digital?
Mirrorless is just being born and Canon's been coasting for far too log.

Scooby_Doo wrote in post #17763628
Didn't we go through this argument about film versus digital?
Mirrorless is just being born and Canon's been coasting for far too log.

Film vs digital is like analog audio to digital, its a huge jump. Mirrorless vs mirrored is hardly that big a contrast. Also, mirrorless is hardly just being born. Leica has been doing it (and doing it better than any other company) since 2004 and Olympus/Panasonic have been doing it since 2008. It remains to be seen if mirrorless will take over, jury is still out. It still needs a ton of work.

dexter75 wrote in post #17763626
DSLR is still king, period. If mirrorless cameras start outselling DSLRs by wide margins, then yes, Canon will have to focus more on mirrorless. That isn't happening though and likely never will until they are capable of double digit FPS, much better battery life, better AF systems, better ergonomics etc....Also, there are still PLENTY of photographers like myself who absolutely hate EVFs and refuse to buy a camera that has one until they improve a LOT.

But I think the point of that Reuters article is that we are in the midst of that shift towards mirrorless. Yes DSLR is still king, but Reuters seems to be arguing that it won't be for long.

Reuters is an information broker, they want to get the scoop (get the news out first) and are not thought of as investigative journalists. In other words, heir business model is to get the news out first, not provide in-depth reporting.

In this instance they mention the word mirrorless exactly one time:

that sentence does not even mention Canon or this earnings report. I suspect it was drawn from another report or "stock" research. You are welcome to argue the shift to mirrorless, but citing that article will not help your argument. It mentioned zero facts to support its "shift to mirrorless" claim, and again, was not even directly attributed to Canon's earnings.

If you look around, Canon points to falling demand in China (mostly office products) due to their weakening economy as well as falling CONSUMER level camera demand. Also mentioned is the Yen's falling value and a hit on profits from acquisitions.

The company made 71 billion Yen (600 million USD) profit in the quarter. Not too bad.


here's a blurb from another article:

But revenue in the latest period was 3.4% higher as office equipment demand in other markets held up.

Canon and domestic rivals including Sony and Olympus have seen a big drop in sales of their digital imaging products as camera-equipped smartphone sales boom.

http://timesofindia.in​diatimes.com …/articleshow/49​556656.cms

http://www.nasdaq.com …ats-in-the-cards-cm536008

Sony Corporation SNE is set to report earnings results for the second-quarter fiscal 2015 on Oct 29.

In the preceding quarter, Sony returned to the growth path, after posting a series of negative earnings results. This leading electronics manufacturer reported its strongest earnings in the last quarter since 2007, with high gains from sales of image sensors units being the major driver.

uh oh, Sony's business is based on "sales of image sensors" not cameras !!!

and has had negative earnings lately !!!

The Dark Knight wrote in post #17763646
But I think the point of that Reuters article is that we are in the midst of that shift towards mirrorless. Yes DSLR is still king, but Reuters seems to be arguing that it won't be for long.

Some mirrorless sales cutting into DSLR sales is not a "shift towards mirrorless". Thats like saying we are shifting towards electric powered cars over gas powered cars because they have risen in sales and some buyers have started to choose them instead. Its simply not true. Its a poorly written article full of assumptions.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17763706
uh oh, Sony's business is based on "sales of image sensors" not cameras !!!

and has had negative earnings lately !!!

Yep, and they mostly have Apple to thank for that as they ordered a massive amount of Sony sensors for the new iPhone 6S/6S Plus that went into production over the summer.

Here's something to consider - there's whole new generation of photographers who grew up an iphone in hand and has been their first camera. And essentially, the iphone is a mirrorless EVF camera, so a "real" mirrorless camera would be natural extension of that. In fact, an OVF to these new breed of photographers may seem weird. So mirrorless is here to stay. Canon, for too long has stuck their head in the sand, and ignored mirrorless. Times have changed. Canon needs to adapt or go the way of Kodak.

I was just at Disneyworld and I noticed a LOT of consumer DSLR's. I would bet things will move more toward mirrorless in the future, I know many who have either switched or are considering switching ( me included )

chantu wrote in post #17763723
Canon needs to adapt or go the way of Kodak.

this always cracks me up.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17764328
this always cracks me up.

Me too. Its like the people who said Apple needed to make larger screen iPhones years ago because others were or they would end up like Blackberry. They needed to up the camera from 8 megapixels years ago because others were or they would end up like Blackberry. Or they needed to do this or do that because the competition was outselling them or they would end up like Blackberry. They eventually did some of those things (just as Im sure canon will this time around), but on their own time, not when people were shouting from the rooftops they needed to do it or they would die off. Yea, Apple sure died off didn't they? lol

dexter75 wrote in post #17764472
Me too. Its like the people who said Apple needed to make larger screen iPhones years ago because others were or they would end up like Blackberry. They needed to up the camera from 8 megapixels years ago because others were or they would end up like Blackberry. Or they needed to do this or do that because the competition was outselling them or they would end up like Blackberry. They eventually did some of those things (just as Im sure canon will this time around), but on their own time, not when people were shouting from the rooftops they needed to do it or they would die off. Yea, Apple sure died off didn't they? lol

Sometimes it works, but remember, many were urging Blackberry to do the same and by the time they figured it out, it was too late. Same with Kodak. There were those urging Kodak to get into digital and by the time they did, it was too late.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17764328
this always cracks me up.

About what? Isn't Canon indeed getting much more involved with mirrorless? Isn't Canon indeed putting their read sensors on-chip, to reduce noise and increase Dynamic Range. I think Sony has lit a fire under Canon's butt ... and I think they will respond in kind.