Cheap cameras and printers are a thing of the past, says Canon

Canon Chairman & CEO, Fujio Mitarai
(Image credit: Canon)

The days of producing cheap cameras and printers is a thing of the past for Canon, with its CEO recently stating the completion of a 14-year mission to transform the business into a high-value-added industry.

"We have changed the industry that used to make cheap cameras and cheap printers," said Fujio Mitarai, CEO and chairman of Canon. 

Check out the best Canon Black Friday deals 

His strategy came to prominence in the Japanese media, following Canon's improved financial results due to the weaker yen, when he noted that Canon planned to bring its main factory back to Japan.

"The company has never produced high-end SLR cameras overseas," he told Tokyo Keizai Online (machine translated). "Domestic production has continued by streamlining and automating processes. Meanwhile, this year it closed a factory in China that was making the cheapest low-end cameras."

Mitarai explains that his new "foreign exchange policy" unites two key factors: Firstly that the depreciating yen makes it advantageous to export products from Japan, especially when focused on high-added-value products. 

Secondly, and related, chasing low-value products that rely on cheap overseas production will always leave the company at the mercy of exchange rate fluctuations. Hence, streamlining and centralizing production in Japan.

This has also been driven by changes and declines in the core businesses in which Canon specializes.

"With the IT revolution (since the 2000s) and the advent of smartphones, cheap cameras were wiped out. Sales of Canon cameras have fallen by a third. Despite having the top market share, sales are steadily declining. This was my first experience. The move to the cloud has led to a shift to paperless operations, and printers and office machines have also been affected.

"Based on this experience, we have aimed to change the business structure, thinking that we must change the big trend. By telling all employees that 'change is evolution, transformation is progress,' we have changed the industry that used to make cheap cameras and cheap printers."

This paints an interesting picture for Canon's future. Obviously, there will always be entry-level products when it comes to cameras and printers. However, there is no doubt that the company is shifting resources toward the big ticket items – rather than cutting costs by making cheaper products in countries with cheaper labor. 

We highly recommend reading the full interview (for which you'll need to create an account), which goes into everything from Canon's investment in surveillance cameras to its heritage as a company with lifetime employees (with a culture where all executives go to work at 6:50 am!). 

Read more: 

Best Canon cameras
Best Canon printers
Best Canon lenses
Best Canon RF lenses

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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.