The OEM reported that demand for laser printers “maintained steady growth”, while inkjets saw demand “slightly” decrease.
The results stated that net sales in 1Q2015 decreased by 1.3 percent year-over-year to ¥857.4 billion ($7.1 billion/€6.6 billion), while operating expenses increased by 6.7 percent to ¥372.4 billion ($3.1 billion/€2.8 billion), causing operating profit to fall by 19.9 percent to ¥66.2 billion ($555.2 million/€510.8 million). There was “steady growth” in demand for MFPs and laser printers, but demand “decreased slightly” for inkjet printers thanks to “sluggish market conditions in emerging economies”.
In the quarter, MFPs and laser printers “enjoyed steady growth”, while the net sales of inkjet printers fell in Japan and emerging countries. The office business unit saw total sales volume fall in the quarter, despite “healthy demand” for the imageRUNNER ADVANCE C350 and C250 machines and the imagePRESS C800 and C700 production devices. In turn, high-speed continuous feed printers and wide-format machines saw “solid growth”, particularly the Océ ColorStream 3000.
Laser printers saw sales volumes fall in Japan, but volume overall “increased owing to steadily growing demand in other regions”. Sales for the unit overall came to ¥529.1 billion ($4.4 billion/€4 billion), a year-over-year growth of 3.9 percent, while operating profit fell one percent to ¥71.7 billion ($601.3 million/€553.2 million). Inkjets did see sales volumes grow in the US, thanks to the MAXIFY business inkjets, but total sales fell by 10.3 percent to ¥262.7 billion ($2.2 billion/€2 billion) and operating profit fell 30.7 percent to ¥29.1 billion ($244 million/€224.5 million).
For the rest of the year, Canon predicted that MFP demand is “projected to expand moderately, mainly for colour models”; laser printer demand “is also expected to continue growing moderately” in MFPs; and inkjet demand is expected to “remain in line” with 2014 results. Full year net sales are forecast to reach ¥3,860 billion ($32.3 billion/€29.7 billion), a growth of 3.6 percent, while operating profit is predicted to grow 4.5 percent to ¥380 billion ($3.1 billion/€2.9 billion).