Canon announced the complete closure of its main factory located in China – Zhuhai factory. The 32-year factory is the only digital camera, sensor and lens manufacturing facility among Canon’s 15 companies in China. This decision may indicate Canon’s intention to reduce the number of camera models and focus on the most profitable models (professional mirrorless cameras?)
After careful consideration, a difficult decision was made: to terminate the company’s production operations.
Shen Yue – public relations representative of Canon China
Following on from our previous report about Canon discontinuing the DLSR Flagship (Canon ESO 1D X Mark III), here’s another proof that Canon is reducing production of its cameras. Canon has announced production cuts at its Zhuhai plant. According to reports, Canon will partially close its Zhuhai factory in southern China, with a complete closure of the 32-year factory under consideration, due to growing demand in the digital camera market. shrinking and the outbreak continues from the coronavirus.
Rumors of the entire facility closing in Guangdong province began on Thursday with an internal letter from the company circulating online. The announcement made on Wednesday said “the company’s operations are experiencing unprecedented difficulties. Despite the joint efforts of the company and all employees, it was not possible to reverse the situation,” said Shen Yue, public relations representative at Canon China. “The head office must adjust the general operating structure of the corporation. After careful consideration, a difficult decision was made: to terminate the company’s production activities”, he said. Furthermore, according to Shen, it is unclear how many employees at the Zhuhai facility will be affected, and the company has yet to decide whether the production line involved will be relocated, as of the end of 2020. Zhuhai machine has 1,317 employees. , according to the company’s website.
Shen emphasized that due to the growth of smartphones, the compact digital camera market is shrinking. Other shocks include the pandemic and chip shortages. It is worth mentioning that by the end of 2020, the investment in the subsidiary Zhuhai has reached 220 million USD, with 1,317 employees. Its total lens production reached 12.29 million in 2020, and it produced 1.03 million digital cameras and 94,000 digital video cameras. The factory is Canon’s sole production facility in mainland China for digital cameras, digital video cameras, image sensors, and lenses (source).
This announcement comes alongside the CEO’s statement on Canon’s new strategy. “It is natural that mirrorless cameras will become the mainstream of digital cameras… Market demand is shifting rapidly to mirrorless cameras. In keeping with this, we are gradually shifting production,” said Canon President and CEO, Fujio Mitarai, as he explained his decision not to release a new DSLR camera (Read: Canon President and CEO, Fujio Mitarai: “The EOS-1D X Mark III is our ultimate DSLR camera”).
The decision to close Canon’s main factory in China represents the company’s new strategy regarding the Imaging Systems division. Allow us to guess here that Canon will focus on its professional mirrorless lineup and less on DSLRs and Point N’ Shoot cameras. Canon knows that high-end mirrorless cameras (EOS R5, EOS R3…) are a very promising niche that won’t be threatened by smartphones. However, the high price makes these products suitable only for professional users. Not sure if Canon wants that or not. However, we will see a significant decrease in the number of Canon camera models available to the market.
List of products
These are the products mentioned in the article and the links to buy them from authorized dealers.
- Canon EOS-1D X Mark III
- Canon EOS R3 . Mirrorless Camera
- Canon EOS R5 . Mirrorless Camera
