Canon is on the verge of collapse due to Sony's offensive. These are the three strategies for a comeback!

2019.10.13 06:00

As I wrote in my previous article, Canon has been driven into a considerable corner by the repeated managerial misjudgments made by the long-term administration of CEO Fujio Mitarai (84). Because of Fujio's inability to discern technology and his clinging to power, Canon has been unable to create new businesses for an extended period of time.

Therefore, the company is trying to overcome the crisis by acquiring medical equipment, surveillance cameras, and other companies under its umbrella through M&A. So far, however, these M&As do not appear to be generating synergies, and it is difficult to say that they are contributing to earnings.

Let us take a sober look at Canon's remaining strengths.

Unlike Mr. Fujio, who has lost interest in cameras, I think it would be better to leverage Canon's remaining strengths and try to recover the camera business performance as much as possible, as post-merger integration (PMI) after M&A is not easy.

The first thing that must be done is to bring a flagship full-frame mirrorless camera to the market as soon as possible, and I believe that management resources should be concentrated on this so that the market launch, which is expected to be in 2021, can be done as soon as possible.

The other thing I think worth trying is to dramatically improve the perfection of new concept products launched by other companies and sell them at higher prices. New concept products that Canon has not worked on are not yet perfected. I recognize that the good thing about Canon's cameras is that they "can definitely capture what the photographer is aiming for, and the probability of failure is very low.

Here are some of the products I have purchased and used in areas where Canon is not involved.

1.action cam
I shoot my videos using the OSMO ACTION from China's DJI, the largest and most famous drone manufacturer, and the Sony HDR-AS300. I made my YouTuber debut this April as "Dr. Railway". I have shifted my main battlefield from photography to video, and am experimenting with various video expressions in preparation for the coming 5G era.

In the video "Zero Passengers? This scene in "Air Transport Train Journey: Riding the Watarase Gorge Railway's Mato Inaugural Train in the Bear Infestation Danger Zone" was filmed using the DJI "OSMO ACTON".

Also, in the video "[Explosive Speed] Super High-Speed Passage Video: Tokaido Shinkansen Odawara Station N700A Passage 30 times in a row! This scene in the video "The HDR-AS300" was shot using Sony's HDR-AS300.

Both the "OSMO ACTION" and the "HDR-AS300" have a higher probability of failing to capture images when compared to Canon's high-end PowerShot G series compact digital cameras. In addition, since the image sensors are small (1/2.3" for "OSMO ACTION" and 1/2.5" for "HDR-AS300"), the dynamic range is narrower than an image sensor of about 1", so dark areas are captured in pitch black with tonal gradation and bright areas are blown out white. This is obvious in the movie.

I believe that Canon's current resources are sufficient to develop an action cam with a 1-inch image sensor, which is often used in high-end compact digital cameras, while improving operability to Canon's standards.

2.drone
Last year, I purchased a DJI "Mavic 2 Pro" drone that uses a 1-inch sensor camera made by Hasselblad of Sweden, a well-known manufacturer of high-end cameras. The deciding factor in my purchase was that it was smaller than the model with a 1-inch sensor that preceded the "Mavic 2 Pro" and that the camera's descriptive power had been improved.

While it is certainly an improvement over the previous model, the operability has not yet been fully boiled down, and there are a number of areas of immaturity. However, there is room for Canon to monetize by supplying DJI with Canon-made cameras and by offering its expertise in improving operability for a fee.

3.all-sky camera
I purchased a Ricoh THETA Z1, an all-sky camera with a 1-inch sensor. I think it is currently the most powerful all-sky camera available. The operability is quite good, unlike action cams and drones, as is typical of serious Ricoh.

Performance is lacking, however, as an SD card cannot be inserted and must be recorded to the internal memory, which is only about 19 GB, resulting in a short video recording time of about 40 minutes at 4K and 130 minutes at 2K. The shortness of the HDR-AS300 action cam stands out because I mainly use 512 GB SDXC cards.

Of course, an all-sky camera with a 1-inch sensor compatible with SDXC cards must have high heat dissipation performance, so it is impossible to achieve the small size of the Ricoh "THETA" series, but it could be done by making the housing more vertical.

After a long period of poor business decisions, I do not think that Canon has a chance for a come-from-behind grand slam home run. I believe that Canon will benefit from facing up to reality and creating products that reflect the voices of its customers.

first appearance : AGORA