The OEM reported a 7.2 percent increase in net sales and 4.1 percent in operating profit for 2013.
Canon’s yearly results saw the OEM announce that despite a “decline in demand” for digital cameras, net sales for the year increased by 7.2 percent to ¥3.731 billion ($35.537 million/€26.177 million) in 2013, which it attributed to, amongst other factors, office MFPs continuing to “drive growth” and laser printers seeing a “turnaround towards recovery”, though market demand for inkjet printers “declined in all major markets” despite a sales increase.
The OEM noted that “flat demand” due to economic slowdown across the globe had “led to a continuation of the harsh business environment”, particularly for consumer products, but a steady sales growth for MFPs and laser printers as well as inkjet printers saw the company’s operating profit increase by 4.1 percent to ¥337.3 billion ($3.212 million/€2.366 million), with net income increasing by 2.6 percent to ¥230.5 billion ($2.195 million/€1.616 million).
Canon stated that it “achieved increases in both sales and profit” overall, with its Office Business unit (comprising MFPs, continuous feed printers and wide-format machines) increased thanks to sales of the imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5200 and C2200 series and the Océ ColorStream 3000 machine. Sales for the Office Business unit added up to ¥2 billion ($19.048 million/€14.031 million), an increase of 13.8 percent over 2012, with operating profit increasing by 31.1 percent to ¥266.9 billion ($2.542 million/€1.872 million).
In terms of inkjets, sales increased by 3.1 percent “despite the harsh market environment” to ¥1.448 billion ($13.799 million/€10.164 million), though operating profit fell by 3.1 percent to ¥203.8 billion ($1.941 million/€1.429 million). In 2014, Canon expects MFD demand to “expand moderately”, laser printer demand to “continue growing moderately”, and for the “dwindling demand” for inkjet printers to “come to an end” and “remain in line” with the 2013 results.