Canon reportedly considering outsourcing production of lower-end camera models

DClife reports:

The Nikkei Shimbun published an interview with Canon’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Toshizo Tanaka. In the interview, he hinted at the possibility of outsourcing production of lower-end products such as cameras and printers. Incidentally, Canon’s new mid- to long-term management plan will be formulated next fiscal year.

Canon has revealed that it is considering outsourcing the production of lower-end models of various products in order to raise its return on equity (ROE) from next fiscal year onwards. Cameras and printers may be among the products that could be affected. Canon is currently performing well, and aims to improve capital efficiency while the situation is favorable. *Return on equity (ROE): Also known as return on shareholders’ equity, ROE is a financial indicator that quantifies how efficiently a company is using its capital to generate profits, and is one of the financial indicators that investors view as important.

From here on, it will be a chat about digital camera life.

Canon’s mid- to long-term business plan, “Phase VI 2021-2025,” will end this fiscal year. A new mid-term business plan, “Phase VII (tentative name),” will likely be formulated starting next fiscal year, and it will be interesting to see the direction of the imaging business in the next mid-term business plan. Judging from this article, it appears that the company is aiming to improve its return on equity (ROE), so stock price trends will also be of interest.

Looking at Canon’s stock price as of Friday, December 12, 2025, it is down 5.16% since the beginning of the year. Judging from the financial results announcement, the imaging business itself has been somewhat affected by Trump’s tariffs, but not significantly. Some have pointed out the performance of the printer business and medical business, which are heavily influenced by the US market, including multifunction devices and printers. In the semiconductor field, it will be interesting to see how much market share the new technology “nanoimprint” can take from ASML in semiconductor exposure equipment. *Stock price screenshot from Google Finance