DailyTech - Canon President Steps Down, CEO to Take Over

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Gadgets Canon President Steps Down, CEO to Take Over
Tiffany Kaiser - January 30, 2012 9:45 AM

3 comment(s) - last by Ditchy412-l.. on Jan 31 at 5:41 AM

Canon chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai will take over as president (Source: forbes.com)

Tuneji Uchida, Canon's current 70-year-old president, will resign from his position on March 29, 2012

Camera company Canon announced that its president will be stepping down in March in the midst of a bleak 2012 outlook for earnings.

Tuneji Uchida, Canon's current 70-year-old president, will resign from his position on March 29, 2012. Fujio Mitarai, Canon CEO and chairman who served as president from 1995 to 2006, will replace him.

While the company originally aimed to bring the next generation up to take the helm, recent troubles have changed its mind. For instance, Canon was affected by a weak economy and a strong yen, which hurts the camera company because it makes 80 percent of its revenue overseas. It also recently took a hit after the floods in Thailand temporarily closed one of its printer plants.

"We are now working on training our younger leaders, but we couldn't immediately find anyone suitable for the president role," said Toshizo Tanaka, chief financial officer of Canon.

Canon recently posted a Q4 2011 operating profit of ¥94.61 billion, which is a 14 percent increase from ¥82.85 billion in Q4 2010. The company's net profit also rose from ¥53.96 billion in Q4 2010 to ¥61.44 billion in Q4 2011. The company's revenue, however, tumbled from ¥1.068 trillion in Q4 2010 to ¥964.76 billion in Q4 2011.

Canon's 2012 outlook predicts a rise in earnings, but battered profits due to recent exchange rates. The camera company foresees a 0.6 percent increase in net profit to ¥250 billion as well as a 3.2 percent increase in operating profit to ¥390 billion and a 5.4 percent increase in revenue to ¥3.750 trillion. These predictions are based off of the euro averaging ¥100 and the dollar averaging ¥75.

"We are taking cost cuts to the next level, and we've been able to absorb the impact from the strong yen to a greater extent," said Tanaka.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters

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Your customers are waiting for you Canon

By havoti97 on 1/30/2012 5:28:58 PM , Rating: 2

Release the 5D MkIII already and profits will soar again. On that note, also release that 24-70 2.8 IS.

RE: Your customers are waiting for you Canon

By bryanW1995 on 1/30/2012 10:29:24 PM , Rating: 2

Naw, my wife won't be able to look down her nose at people anymore once the 5d MkIII launches... Either that, or my wallet will again be empty for a few years... Crap, either way, I lose.

Parent

sad

By Ditchy412-l on 1/31/2012 5:41:20 AM , Rating: 2

This does not bode well. The amount of money that Canon actually make on a high end SLR (like the 5d MkIII) is negligible because of the sheer cost of R&D and components. It's the consumer compacts that will make the money so this could mean a year without the G13 or certain powershot cameras that make fans happy but don't bring in huge profits. Hope Canon can get over this as they are an amazing company.