This needs to be seen in comparison to their competitors results. I believe the recent tiff between China and Japan is severely hurting many Japan businesses. We'll see how the camera industry is affected...
On the other hand, if Canon is really so badly affected in comparison to their competition, then I guess it serves them right for being arrogant: they need to get their sensor performance up and stop selling handicapped cameras at high prices. The bean counters in Canon are seriously hurting the long term reputation of Canon.
"However, the EOS Digital Rebel, 5D Mark III, and 60D all encountered lower sales than predicted"
Okay, here we go. This confirms my own observation and what several others stated. Thanks for sharing this link, the drop is more significant than even I anticipated. Canon got the bill I guess. Now I would love to see how Nikon does, especially in regard to D800.
A lot of folks seem pissed at Canon.
Canon camera sales are down.
Cause and effect? Probably a bit, but also probably not more than a bit. China boycotting Japanese goods, strong yen, European sales down all were mentioned. I doubt those are going to just affect Canon.
Canon reported early and there's little to compare it to. If Nikon, Sony, and others do well, then yeah, we can talk about the Canon product line. If they're all down more, then not so much. And Sony, if I recall, has already warned it won't be meeting expectations.
RCicala wrote:
A lot of folks seem pissed at Canon.
Canon camera sales are down.
Cause and effect? Probably a bit, but also probably not more than a bit. China boycotting Japanese goods, strong yen, European sales down all were mentioned. I doubt those are going to just affect Canon.
Canon reported early and there's little to compare it to. If Nikon, Sony, and others do well, then yeah, we can talk about the Canon product line. If they're all down more, then not so much. And Sony, if I recall, has already warned it won't be meeting expectations.
I guess this is now the last sort of excuse for this scenario instead of admitting that Canon did severe marketing mistakes and didn't provide the customer what was/is wanted. But I agree, for a fair comparison let's wait what Nikon has to say...
I've had no idea how the 5d3 was selling.. however, I still maintain they named it wrongly and it has hurt them. It wasn't a 5d camera. The 5d camera range profile is high MP, high sensor quality (generally), low on other features - but fundamentally the last two were all about the sensor.
The 5d3 is a mini 1dx (a 2dx). However, because of the same, it was compared with the d800, which it was never produced to compete with.
The D800 was really the 5d3. The 5d3 was really the successor to the d700.
I do think Canon's marketing department got it wrong. I also think Canon have underperformed with low ISO sensor performance (although I've said time and time again it's not an issue for me) and maybe they are losing out.
Certainly they haven't managed to sell the 5d3 to many people who bought a 5d2 - except me who really wanted a successor to the d700 and that's exactly what I got
Hopefully the "bean counters" will wise up based on this news. I do tend to agree that - even thought the 5d3 bucked the cripping trend somewhat - they still do have a tendancy to make their cameras the least they can be for the most money. The 6d is the best example of this IMO.
"As a result of the foregoing, net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2012 increased by 13,864 million yen (5.6%) year on year to 259,431 million yen, operating income decreased by 13,551 million yen (36.7%) year on year to 23,368 million yen, ordinary income was down 14,349 million yen (38.0%) year on year to 23,403 million yen, resulting in net income of 15,770 million yen, a decrease of 14,911 million yen (48.6%) year on year."
Sales up though:
"In the Imaging Products Business, record high unit sales were recorded for quarterly sales of interchangeable lens type digital cameras and interchangeable lenses, and for first quarter sales of compact digital cameras. Although there was a decline in operating income due mainly to the effects of the strong yen against the euro, net sales for the quarter reached record high levels."
I would suggest that a lot more data is needed before reasonable conclusions can be made but don't let me stop people from posting doom and gloom stuff. This is the internet, after all.
I think Canon just reported their July to September, and the above link is Nikon's April - June. But I may be wrong on that.
And please let the record show I agree Canon's marketing / new releases / etc. are not good. But neither is Nikon's (awesome camera, but customer service is imploding).
I'm one of 2 professional 5D series shooters I know (in my immediate circle) that has a 5D3. Everyone else is hanging on to their 5D2's or 1D mark whatevers. Part of that is due to price, part of it is due to (wedding) photographers need much better AF confirmation than what the 5D3 provides, part of that is photographers incomes are lower. Canon should have made the 6D a bit more pro friendly if that's the immense divide we're left with.
RCicala wrote:
I think Canon just reported their July to September, and the above link is Nikon's April - June. But I may be wrong on that.
And please let the record show I agree Canon's marketing / new releases / etc. are not good. But neither is Nikon's (awesome camera, but customer service is imploding).
The Canon EOS Rebel T3i has been listed as the top selling DSLR at Amazon for a long time. Maybe Canon needs to focus more on the low end of the market since that's where most of the sales are. Very few people can afford a 5D3 or D800.
As for Nikon SC imploding, it's been pretty terrible as long as I can remember and one of the reasons I switched to Canon.
It is not surprising but the reasons are many and varied.
1. The world economy is not in the best of shape.
2. Casual photographers are not upgrading as often because the cameras they have are suffice to do what they want to. Think of computer software many people still use older versions Winows 98/XP, Office 2002. The older versions still do the job.
3. People are spending money on other neccesaties such as mortages, food, clothing
4. Credit limits are maxed out.
5. Disposable income is down.
6. Products being released that don't meet needs or are at a price point people will want.
7. Lets not forget cellphones, ipads etc.
8. The list is endless. It could be that digital cameras etc has like many other industries/products reached the saturation point and the growth it has enjoyed will no longer be sustainable and will see lower sales, and less innovation on newer products. Does anyone remember reel to reel, 78's,45's,LP's 8 track,cassettes, CD's, Beta, VHS,.....?
Does anyone remember reel to reel, 78's,45's,LP's 8 track,cassettes, CD's, Beta, VHS,.....?
Those products reached the end of their life cycle and faded away due to new technology. I don't think serious cameras are at that point--no replacement on horizon--albeit the bottom has fallen out of the P&S market due to use of cellphone cameras.
burningheart wrote:
It is not surprising but the reasons are many and varied.
1. The world economy is not in the best of shape.
2. Casual photographers are not upgrading as often because the cameras they have are suffice to do what they want to. Think of computer software many people still use older versions Winows 98/XP, Office 2002. The older versions still do the job.
3. People are spending money on other neccesaties such as mortages, food, clothing
4. Credit limits are maxed out.
5. Disposable income is down.
6. Products being released that don't meet needs or are at a price point people will want.
7. Lets not forget cellphones, ipads etc.
8. The list is endless. It could be that digital cameras etc has like many other industries/products reached the saturation point and the growth it has enjoyed will no longer be sustainable and will see lower sales, and less innovation on newer products. Does anyone remember reel to reel, 78's,45's,LP's 8 track,cassettes, CD's, Beta, VHS,.....?...Show more →
Those reasons are certainly correct, but those above are more general. If we soon see that for example the D600/D800 sales skyrocket and the 5D III sales are more limited, Canon definitely did something wrong by itself other than currency or world economic reasons. And I have the feeling that this is exactly what we will see soon (not mentioning now issues with other Canon DSLR models and lenses).
Gochugogi wrote:
Those products reached the end of their life cycle and faded away due to new technology. .
In part, it is also due to demand by the consumer. Some argue Beta was better quality than VHS but at the end of the day VHS sold better than Beta and Beta vanished due to lack of consumer demand. You can still buy LP's but there is a very limited selection available and usually by mail only. But I don't dispute your statement on technology changes.
The same can be said about camera equipment if the consumer doesn't purchase it or demand drops significantly then manufacturers will have to make adjustments and evolve the technology. Like you said P+S has been hit by cellphones.
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