Canon Claims Market Share Wins

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 11/8/2010

NEW YORK — Word around the industry that d-SLR camera sales are already exceeding bullish holiday projections helped to reinforce Canon USA’s recent industry-topping market share claims, and underscored the company’s recent strong third-quarter financial results.

Eliott Peck, Canon USA digital imaging division senior VP and general manager, presented at the company’s Expo 2010, here, key success segments through July of this year.

Peck said the company’s market research showed Canon ranking first in overall digital camera sales for the January through July periods in both mindshare and market share.

The company’s third-quarter financial released on Oct. 27 showed the company’s overall net sales were up 17.9 percent to $10.87 billion compared with the prior year’s third quarter; operating profit was up 74.1 percent to $1.24 billion, and net income was up 85.6 percent to $811.8 million.

In Canon’s consumer business unit, sales volumes of such new d-SLR cameras as the EOS Digital Rebel T2i (EOS 550D) and the competitively priced EOS Digital Rebel T1i (EOS 500D), along with the EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D advanced-amateur models, had sustained and healthy growth, the company said.

As for compact digital cameras, the Elph (IXUS)- series model and four new PowerShot-series models helped boost sales volumes to a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, worldwide.

Amid the strong yen environment, sales for the segment rose 3.3 percent year on year to $3.9 billion and 10.2 percent to $11.7 billion for the first nine months, the company reported.

Operating profit increased by 14 percent to $700 million for the quarter, and by 59.7 percent to $2.06 billion for the nine-month period, largely reflecting increased sales and the rise in the gross profit ratio owing to the effects of cost reductions, Canon said.

In the U.S., according to Peck, Canon ranked No. 1 in digital compact cameras through July, with a 20.5 percent unit share and 27.1 percent dollar share, and No. 1 in the growing d-SLR market, with a 48.5 percent unit share and 53.3 percent dollar share.

Comparatively, in compact camera unit share, Nikon ranked No. 2, with 18.8 percent share; Sony was No. 3, with 17.1 percent share; Kodak was No. 4, with 10.1 percent share; Samsung was No. 5, with 6.5 percent share; Olympus was No. 6, with 6 percent share; Fujifilm was No. 7, with 5.3 percent share; and Panasonic was No. 7, with 3.1 percent share, according to Canon’s estimates. All others accounted for a collective 12.6 percent share.

In d-SLR unit share, Nikon was No. 2, with 40.5 percent share; Sony was No. 3, with 4.6 percent share; Olympus was No. 4, with 3.3 percent share; Pentax was No. 5, with 1.6 percent share; and Panasonic was No. 6, with 1.5 percent share.

“Consumers are willing to spend even more for quality and our market share in terms of value is even higher,” Peck added.

In compact digital cameras, gone are the days when quality was measured in megapixels alone. Consumers desire a sleek, stylish compact and a colorful design.

In recent weeks the company launched three new Powershot models including the SD-4500, Canon’s thinnest Powershot with a 10x optical zoom lens and full 1080p HD video; the S95, the successor to the popular S90 Powershot, and the XS130is, with 12x optical zoom lens.

Hot new features in some Powershot models include a new HS system that virtually eliminates blurring, reduces noise and is ideal for shooting in lowlight situations. In addition, the S95 with Hybrid IS, compensates for both angular and shift camera shake.

Every new Powershot has FullHD movie capabilities and full stereo sound recording.

“On the video side we are focused on the rapid shift to high definition. Consumers today expect HD-quality imaging, and this is reflected in the camcorder market,” Peck said.

At the same time, the shift from tape and DVD to flash-memory recording has been just as rapid.

“Canon’s strategy to develop the highest-quality HD memory recording has kept us No. 1 or a strong No. 2 in the U.S. market,” he offered.

Canon’s legacy of optical innovation and core imaging technology is also shared by the HD camcorder lineup.

The new VIXIA HFM32 has 64GB of flash memory built in, and is capable of recording up to 24 hours in HD. It is also compatible with next-generation SDXC memory cards, which promise up to 2TB of storage.

What’s hot in HD camcorders this year is a touch panel LCD that makes it easy to scroll through a whole menu of functionality for easy navigation; Touch ‘n Track, which allows users to choose any subject in the frame for highlighting by touching it; and a new Smart Auto function that automatically optimizes picture settings.

Last April, the company introduced the XF300 and XF305 professional camcorders, and more recently added the rugged pro-level XF100 and XF105 models, which incorporate the same technology as the earlier models but with a more compact design.