Canon Releases 3Q 2021 Financial Results

Canon has released the first quarter 2021 financial results to the Investor Relations page.

Presentation Material
Results
Supplementary Data

Some Relevant Highlight Quotes from the Presentation Material

From a supply standpoint, our supply chain was seriously impacted by the shortage of semiconductors and other parts, and production activities were stalled due to strict lockdown measures in Southeast Asia.

... Operating profit improved significantly to 58.7 billion yen, more than 3 times higher than the previous year, and net income was 49.3 billion yen, close to 3 times higher than the previous year.

... the EOS R 5 and EOS R 6, which are highly competitive products, have maintained strong sales and have become the driving force behind business results, even one year after their launch. Amid challenging conditions surrounding parts procurement, we focused on the production and supply of high end products and lenses, which enabled us to secure a double digit profit ratio.

Regarding the fourth quarter, the deterioration in utilization rates of manufacturing sites in Southeast Asia is generally subsiding. As for parts shortages, we continue to consider new suppliers and alternative parts as well as parallel production at multiple manufacturing sites Through measures such as these, we will work to make up for the delay in production.

As for Imaging, demand for cameras remains solid Though we lowered our sales plan for camera bodies by 50 thousand units, this was due to impact from the shortage of parts. Despite this, we expect to achieve a double digit profit ratio, as sales of our enhanced lineup of RF lenses have been stronger than expected.

As for cost reduction, we expect costs to actually increase as we prioritize the supply of products to customers and secure parts amid soaring prices. We also expect to see a significant increase in costs associated with recovering from the deterioration in utilization rates at our manufacturing sites caused by COVID 19 as well as an increase in logistics costs due to the use of air transportation.

The camera market remained solid thanks to the strength of personal consumption, particularly in Europe and the United States, and the launch of new full frame mirrorless cameras by each company that stimulated the need for high quality image expression However, due to the global shortage of parts, the size of this year’s market is now projected to be 5 9 million units, 100 thousand units fewer than in our previous projection Similarly, we expect our own unit sales to be 2 95 million units, 50 thousand units fewer than in our previous projection.

As for the third quarter, although one year has passed since the launch of the EOS R 5 and EOS R 6 they continue to be strong selling models As for our enhanced lineup of lenses, we exceeded our unit sales plan thanks to their synergy with camera bodies.

We plan to increase our lens lineup to 26 within this year, including the RF 5.2 mm F2.8 L DUAL FISHEYE lens that we announced this month, our first lens designed specifically for capturing VR images This lens, when mounted on an EOS R 5 allows for the easy capture of 180 degree 3D VR images, and is attracting attention as a product that extends the user's image expression to the area of VR.

In November, the EOS R 3 will be added to our lineup Going forward as well, we will effectively introduce new camera bodies and lenses, strengthening the competitiveness of our products and maintain high profitability.