Canon’s profits increase slightly in Q1, gives information on possible compact cameras to come



The last time we checked in with Canon, we had seen that their earnings were not quite up to par. But this week Canon reported its Q1 2012 earnings and thing have definitely seemed to have looked up. Canons situation has improved dramatically from the last time we checked in which was when they were replacing their company president. While earnings declined slightly, net profit reached 61.54 billion yen ($766 million), up 11 percent from a year ago. There's no executive moves to report, however on the earnings call executive VP and CFO Toshizo Tanaka noted a unit sales increase of 30 percent for SLR cameras including the new EOS 5D Mark III as well as the cheaper T3i, Mark II and 60D models, combined with strong sales for WiFi-connected point-and-shoots. As far as new products, while its new cinema cameras got just a quick glancing mention the plan this year includes compact cameras "offering the image qualities that approaches SLR cameras", with improved design and network connectivity features. All the numbers and earnings call talk are in black and white at the links below. But we would much rather focus on the possible future of mirrorless cameras.