Canon recently held its 2022 Corporate Strategy Conference. This annual event includes a review of the company’s financial performance over the previous year. It also sets out aims and targets for the future. While not a forum for product launches, Canon’s financial results presentation revealed some interesting facts and Canon’s RF lens roadmap.
Business presentation
Canon published the slides and accompanying notes from a presentation given by company chairman and Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai. The presentation covered all aspects of the company’s business areas, including printing, imaging, medical, and industrial. Canon’s camera business was covered under the imaging heading.
New RF lenses
A graph on one of the slides had the caption, “Expand lens line up at the same pace,” and a rising arrow. The graph also shows 18 lenses in 2020 and 26 lenses in 2021. The bars for 2022 to 2025 don’t have a number. However, by extrapolating the figures for 2020 and 2021, it seems reasonable to assume Canon is planning to release eight new RF lenses each year until 2025. That would mean 32 new RF lenses, bringing the overall total available up to 58.
More interesting facts
Mirrorless cameras
Mitarai’s presentation revealed that Canon has set a goal of establishing itself as the market leader for camera manufacture, including mirrorless cameras. The notes acknowledge that the overall camera market has continued to shrink. However, this is clarified as mainly reflecting lower sales of entry-level camera models. This is probably the result of more and more people using smartphones as their main camera. In contrast, there is still a strong demand for cameras by professionals and advanced amateurs seeking high-quality images.
Market share
Mitarai said: “Over the past several years, we have worked to raise the appeal of the EOS R system by enhancing our lineup with highly competitive full-frame mirrorless cameras and RF lenses. As a result, we have established a solid position in mirrorless cameras and are now in a situation where we can target the top market share position … Going forward, we will continue to expand our lineup in response to user feedback (and) secure the global No. 1 market share position in mirrorless cameras”
Canon RF lens availability
While there are no details yet of what the new lenses might be, it shows there are exciting times ahead for owners of Canon RF cameras.
