Demand for Canon cameras continues to fall away, with an overall 17 percent drop in sales of interchangeable lens models from June to September compared to the same period last year.
Unit sales of compacts fell 29 percent, while total digital camera sales fell 24 percent.
On the positive side, Canon said ‘healthy demand’ for cameras such as the EOS 5DS, EOS 5DS R and EOS 750D fuelled a rise in sales in the Japanese and European markets: ‘During the third quarter, despite a gradual recovery in sales of interchangeable-lens digital cameras in Japan and Europe, severe conditions continued in other regions while sales volume for digital compact cameras decreased compared with the same period of the previous year,’ Canon said in a statement.
This follows ‘negative growth’ (gotta love that concept!) in the previous quarter (March-June), where interchangeables were down 9 percent on 2014, compacts down 22 percent and the overall fall was 17 percent.
For the full year 2014, interchangeables were down 17 percent and compacts down 32 percent, adding to a 26 percent fall in cameras sold compared to 2013.
Canon predicts that for the full year 2015 interchangeables will be down 14 percent and compacts down 28 percent on 2014.
While Canon points to markets in recession and the impact of smartphones, there are indications the largest camera manufacturer is also bleeding market share.
This is clearly bad news for Canon, but not so much for retailers, as the overall picture isn’t as gloomy as the (apparently shrinking) Canon part of it: CIPA camera shipments slipped somewhat in August after two months in which interchangeable lens camera sales actually increased over the previous months in 2014 – the first time the downward trend has been arrested since 2011-12. (See story.)
CIPA hasn’t yet released September figures, so a comparison between the Canon figures and the CIPA figures can’t be made (and of course shipments and sales aren’t the same metric). But in the second quarter of 2015, interchangeable lens camera shipments were up 1 percent on second quarter 2014, while Canon unit sales were down 9 percent. The gap will likely be wider in the third quarter given the comparatively upbeat July and August CIPA figures.
There is a lack of progressive innovation in new lens and body technology.
In 1968 I had a 35mm camera with interchangeable leaf shutter lenses capable of flash sync to 1/500th sec, the fastest shutter available at that time for leaf shutter. Very few if any these days can do that. the lens was marked in 1/3 f stops and EV stops. f2.8 to f32. I used a Weston master light meter, and also in those days used some Perutz Film. Surely someone could design a camera with Interchangeable lenses with shutter speed exceeding the 500th barrier. Cameras are cheaper now than they were back then, but perhaps now is the time to reinvent the past a little bit. As someone once said “Keep it simple S…..d”