Canon says the camera market has ‘largely bottomed out,’ expects pro and ‘advanced amateur’ segments to grow

Canon’s EOS R7 APS-C mirrorless camera.

Alongside its presentation materials for its Q2 2022 financial results, Canon included a summary of its Q&A session that addresses various questions from stakeholders. In it was an intriguing bit of insight into Canon’s current view of the camera market.

In question five, Canon is asked what it’s outlook for the camera market is going forward and whether or not it will continue to offer both mirrorless and DSLR cameras.

In response, Canon says it believes ‘the camera market has largely bottomed out at its current size.’ It continues, ‘going forward, we expect the professional and advanced amateur segment to expand further and that products will become more highly developed. In other words, entry-level cameras will be taking a backseat to higher-end models, which also have the added benefit of typically providing higher profit margins.

As for DSLR cameras, Canon says it ‘will continue to supply products as long as there is demand.’ That’s about as safe of an answer as you can get, but it’s also a logical one. If people are willing to buy the products, why not sell them?

This may be digging a bit too much into Canon’s response, but it worth noting Canon only said it intends to ‘supply’ DSLR cameras, not ‘produce’ or ‘manufacturer’ them. This phrasing might suggest Canon is only selling DSLR units it has already produced and isn’t manufacturing any new DSLR units in favor of using the time and resources to manufacture its newer mirrorless models, which are still difficult to come by in various regions across the globe due to limited supply. Of course, it’s possible Canon is also implying production when it says it will ‘continue to supply products,’ so we could be entirely off the mark there.

Speaking of supply, Canon also addressed the following question: ‘What is your outlook for the external environment in 2023 and the sustainability of your growth going forward?’

Canon says that ‘even if production around the world recovers smoothly, it will probably take around a year for the inflation caused by the shortage of goods, which arose from supply-chain disruptions etc., to subside naturally.’ Put in other words, Canon believes it could take ‘around a year’ for the market to return to any semblance of normalcy, as it were, across its various business departments, including its imaging division.