Canon Considering Outsourcing Camera Manufacturing to Cut Costs

Camera News

by Heath McKnightToday

As smartphones continue to eat into camera market shares, mostly entry-level, and as demand for printers for businesses decreases, Canon is considering moving some manufacturing out of Japan. 

With less demand for low-end, entry-level-style cameras and office equipment like printers and copiers, Canon is considering moving more manufacturing outside of Japan.

Global camera sales are down significantly since 2008

The drop in demand for cameras can be attributed to the rise of smartphones with cameras that get more and more advanced each year. And, as more companies go digital, the need for printers and copiers decreases yearly.

“We want to go fabless with the printers and lower-end digital cameras we manufacture in Asia,” explained Canon Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitari to Nikkei Asia. “We can become more asset-light by outsourcing based on production quantity rather than maintaining our own factories.”

However, in the past couple of years, there has been an increase in demand for compact, digital point-and-shoot cameras among Gen Z. Canon has largely missed out on this trend. The company closed their compact camera manufacturing plant in Zhuhai, China, in 2022.

While other manufacturers are capitalizing, Canon did have a pretty good reason for their closure: Since 2008, they’ve lost $8.2 billion in sales of cameras, printers, copiers, and other devices. They shipped only 8 million digital cameras in 2021, a massive decrease from 120 million in 2010.

The rise of point-and-shoot cameras is a surprise, no doubt. Most manufacturers, including Canon, have been focusing on higher-end units, like the newer mirrorless cameras, which has helped with overall sales.

Gen Z helps to bring back digital point-and-shoot film cameras

You would be forgiven if you thought it was 2003 all over again. Gen Z has helped bring about a resurgence in digital point-and-shoot (P&S) cameras. Years before the iPhone and other smartphones helped nearly eliminate these cameras, they were ubiquitous at the beginning of the 21st century. It wasn’t uncommon to see Gen Xers with an iPod, flip phone (or BlackBerry), possibly a PDA, and definitely a digital point-and-shoot camera. One of the more popular models was the Canon PowerShot ELPH and other PowerShot cameras. 

Gen Z has been enjoying using these cameras, especially for vlogging. However, with the resurgence of digital point-and-shoot cameras, which started in 2023, it is unfortunate that in 2022, Canon closed the plant manufacturing those camera styles.

Shooting on film cameras has also seen a sharp return amongst the younger generation. There certainly is an appeal to loading a film camera, taking photos, and then either sending the film off to be developed or doing it yourself.  How long this trend lasts is unknown, but it is similar to the rise in vinyl, as physical media sales have dropped over the years.

What do you think of Canon outsourcing more manufacturing outside of Japan? What are your thoughts on the impact of smartphones on low-end camera sales and the return of point-and-shoot cameras? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Nikkei Asia (via Canon Rumors and Peta Pixel)