Canon, the world's top camera-maker, is exploring the possibility of launching a mirrorless model, packing many of the capabilities of an upmarket single-lens reflex camera into a more compact body, a senior executive said.
Canon has restored camera production to pre-quake levels at the end of June, after supply-chain woes hampered output following the March 11 disaster, Masaya Maeda, head of Canon's camera division, told Reuters in an interview on July 05.
The company now plans to hike production capacity in Taiwan and this would bring Canon's total single-lens reflex camera output capacity to 10 million units annually, from about 7 million units this year, Maeda said.
Rivals including Sony Corp offer mirrorless models, enabling them to market lucrative accessories such as lenses to consumers who are seeking to move upmarket from compact cameras, but unwilling to carry around a hefty interchangeable lens model. There was speculation that Canon and Nikon, which together account for three quarters of the high-end camera market, may follow suit.
Some analysts have warned that entering the emerging segment could expose Canon to more price competition, but others say the firm's reputation among camera fans will help it overcome this risk. "If they market it properly, and differentiate it from other products, it will be positive," said analyst Tetsuya Wadaki of Nomura Securities in Tokyo.
"The market reputation of Canon's cameras is on a different level from other manufacturers," he added. "People who hadn't considered a mirrorless before will probably buy it. But Canon have to be careful not to cannibalise sales of high-end compacts, where they make quite a bit of profit."
Maeda said he did not expect a move into the mirrorless segment would push down unit prices.
"We are considering the technical aspects," Maeda said, when asked about the mirrorless segment. "We will launch an interesting product next year," he said, adding that it would be small, but not specifying whether it would be a mirrorless model.