 |
| Image: Canon |
Canon has already raised prices of its equipment for US customers once because of tariffs, and now, it has shared that another increase could be on the way. The company recently released its second-quarter and first-half financial results for the 2025 fiscal year, and in those materials, it discussed how the US tariffs impacted the brand.
In the Q&A session with investors, Canon said that the impact of increased costs would be between roughly 15 and 16 billion yen (101 to 107 million USD). To deal with that, the company said it is “considering how to respond,” and that it could end up passing on costs via price increases. However, those increases wouldn’t be a flat rate across the board. “Rather than applying price increases evenly, we will consider this on an individual product basis, taking into account product competitiveness,” it said.
It plans to make up for that by “reducing costs and raising prices.”
Canon said it hasn’t been able to calculate an estimate of the impact of tariffs for the next fiscal year, but it is assuming the impact will be twice what it saw in the six-month period of this year. It explained that it plans to make up for that by “reducing costs and raising prices.” The company reiterated that it will be looking at the competitiveness of each product and coming up with a plan based on that, instead of applying a blanket increase for everything. That gives the company the flexibility to increase prices on specific items and absorb the costs on others.
Canon also said in the Q&A session that it has been working to transition production locations for several years. “Regardless of the current tariff issue, for several years, we have been promoting a return of production to Japan based on our ability to automate production, with a focus on cameras,” it explained. It also mentioned that it has a plan to increase productivity “by utilizing external resources for low added-value products.” Whether that extends to anything related to photography or videography is unclear.
Another piece of information that Canon shared in the Q&A session was that it saw a rise in demand in May after announcing it would increase prices. Canon first shared that it would be increasing prices in the US because of tariffs in its first-quarter financials announcement in April.
Sales in the U.S. are expected to fall in the second half of the year due to price hikes.
Those increases finally hit products in June, and Canon said it saw a decline in demand after the higher prices were in place, a trend it expects to continue: it told investors that “sales in the U.S. are expected to fall in the second half of the year due to price hikes resulting from additional tariffs,” but that it plans to make up the difference with increased sales in “Asia and other areas.”
The tariff situation has been a complex and confusing issue, making it difficult for companies to plan. Promising at least some stability, trade deals were recently announced with Japan and Vietnam, where Canon makes some of its gear. Those deals resulted in tariffs of 15% and 20%, respectively, on imports to the US. While those numbers are substantially lower than the threatened rates, they are higher than the 10% that has been in place since the 90-day pause on full tariffs announced in May. So, Canon still needs to account for the higher costs of shipping products to the US with these new rates.
Our DPREVIEW Tribute:
After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview closed on 10 April 2023. This difficult decision was part of the annual operating plan review that parent company, Amazon, shared earlier this year.
Over the course of 25 years, DP Review built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you’re after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010.
Cheers DPReview – thanks for the great work and content that guided photographers, videographers and techno junkies the world over!