Canon gets $270 million boost thanks to strong R5 and R6 sales

Canon gets $270 billion boost thanks to strong R5 and R6 sales
(Image credit: Future / Digital Camera World)

Despite challenges from COVID and manufacturing issues, Canon has revised its latest earnings forecast up by $270 million, powered by strong sales of its two newest mirrorless cameras particularly in China. 

For its fiscal year ending December 2020, Canon announced that it is revising its consolidated net income to ¥80 billion – approximately $772 million / £565 million / AU$997 million. It said this is due to the performance of the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6 in the Chinese market, prompting a significant increase of ¥28 billion ($270 million / £198 million / AU$349 million) on its previous forecast.

• Read more: Canon EOS R5 vs R6

While this still marks a 36% decrease from the ¥108.8 billion ($1.04 billion / £762.7 million / AU$1.3 billion) figure posted for the fiscal year ending December 2019, according to Nikkei (by way of Digital Camera Info), it's still a 185% improvement on Canon's initial forecast for the year, which was obviously tempered by expectations of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy. 

"The background is the economic recovery in China, and there is a difference between the non-manufacturing industry, whose business performance is declining due to the re-expansion of the new coronavirus infection, and the recovery," reported Nikkei.

"New full-frame mirrorless cameras are performing well in the Chinese market. Ink sales for home printers also increased due to the expansion of telecommuting."

Indeed, as the manufacturer was keen to stress at CES 2021, Canon's business is about more than just the cameras that it is best known for. And while the current climate of lockdowns and home working have had a negative effect on the sale and use of camera equipment, Canon also produces some of the best photo printers – which many people have found themselves suddenly needing in their home office setup.

Hopefully, with the advent of new vaccines, the rest of the imaging industry – and the rest of the world at large – will see similar recovery. 

Read more: 

Canon EOS R5 review
Canon EOS R6 review
Best Canon cameras

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.