Canon released its third quarter 2019 results stating MFDs stayed in similar demands, but the demand for laser and inkjet decreased.
Third-quarter net sales decreased by 6.2 percent year-on-year to ¥869.5 billion ($8.05 billion/ €7.2 billion). Net sales for the first nine months of 2019 decreased by 8.8 percent year-on-year to ¥2,639.8 billion ($24.4 billion/ €22.01 billion).
In its third quarter review, Canon said that demand for office multifunction devices (MFDs) remained at around the same level as the previous year, while demand for laser printers decreased due mainly to the economic slowdown in China amid a slide in consumer spending as well as decreasing exports caused by prolonged trade friction with the United States.
Demand for inkjet printers decreased in each region except for Japan. The market for medical equipment recovered in Japan and demand grew moderately in other markets, mainly in developed countries.
Looking at Canon’s third-quarter performance by business unit, starting with the Office Business Unit, although there was solid demand for new colour models that feature enhanced security functions and the newly launched imagePRESS C910 series which targets the production printing market, unit sales of monochrome-model office MFDs decreased due to the economic slowdown in emerging countries, and overall unit sales of office MFDs decreased slightly compared with the same period of the previous year.
As for laser printers, although sales were strong for new models that achieve low power consumption, compact body designs and high productivity, unit sales of hardware decreased compared with the same period of the previous year due mainly to decreasing sales of low-speed models in emerging markets.
Sales of consumables also decreased due mainly to the slowdown of the European economy.
These factors resulted in total sales for the business unit of ¥413.8 billion ($3.8 billion/ €3.4 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 3.9 percent, while income before income taxes decreased by 16.5 percent year-on-year to ¥41.6 billion ($382.1 million/ €344.6 million). Sales for the combined first nine months of the year totalled ¥1,267.3 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5.1 percent.
For inkjet printers, although unit sales in Japan increased compared with the same period of the previous year, unit sales decreased overall compared with the same period of the previous year mainly due to the slowdown in emerging markets affected by the sluggish economy.
As a result, sales for the business unit decreased by 13.9 percent to ¥189.2 billion ($1.74 billion/ €1.57 billion) year-on-year, while income before income taxes decreased by 57.8 percent year-on-year to ¥10.4 billion ($957.3 million/ €863.4 million). Sales for the combined first nine months of the year totalled ¥570.2 billion ($5.2 billion/ €4.7 billion), a year-on-year decrease of 16.5 percent.
In its outlook, Canon says that sales of office MFDs are expected to be slightly below level compared with the previous year, supported by the solid demand for colour models. Demand for laser printers is expected to remain below that of the previous year due to prolonged economic slowdown. Canon stated that projections indicate the overall inkjet printer market is expected to continue to shrink.
