Canon has reported an 86% downturn in profits as revenues at the digital camera maker plunges 29%. The market leader in digital camera’s in Australia, the company has been hit by sluggish sales as more competitors like Samsung and Panasonic look to take share away from the Japanese camera maker.
Canon said that net profit plunged to US$351 million dollars in the six months through to June 2009. Operating profit slumped 80.4 percent to 64.94 billion yen as revenue slid 29.9 percent to 1.48 trillion yen, a company statement said.
A bright spot for Canon has been an increase in demand for digital SLR camera’s however this has not stopped overall revenues that include revenue from digital still models falling. it has not been immune to the global economic downturn, which has battered Japanese electronics makers.
“I suppose that stimulus measures from various countries will eventually kick in,” said managing director Masahiro Ohsawa.
“But at this point, our view is that a recovery in office equipment will be difficult to achieve in the near future. We believe consumer products will lead the economic recovery.”
