Sony's junior dominating senior is a reality; former employees also lament Canon Mitarai's dismal performance.

2019.10.10 06:01

Canon Inc. is headed by Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai (84). The "Corporate Profile" page of the company's official website shows Mr. Fujio's name but no mention of Masaya Maeda (66), President and COO, giving a glimpse of the one-man management style of Mr. Fujio.

Mr. Fujio was born in Oita Prefecture in 1935. After graduating from Oyamadai High School in Tokyo after transferring from Saiki Tsurushiro High School in Oita Prefecture, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Chuo University in March 1961 and joined Canon Inc. in April of the same year, where his uncle, Takeshi, was one of the founders (* with additional notes). 1979 he was appointed president of Canon's U.S. subsidiary.

In 1995, he became the sixth president of Canon Inc. after his cousin Hajime (an engineer with a graduate degree in electronics engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who was three years younger than Fujio and the fifth president of Canon, died while serving as president. After assuming the presidency, Fujio implemented measures to strengthen Canon's financial position, cut back on unprofitable businesses, and introduced the highly productive cell production system, which should be credited for the excellent results he achieved during his tenure as president from 1995 to 2006.

In 2006, Mr. Fujio became Chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and Chairman of Canon Inc. Tsuneji Uchida (an engineer who graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in precision engineering) became the seventh president of Canon Inc. In 2012, when Uchida stepped down as president, Fujio returned to the position of Canon Inc. as chairman and president.

In 2016, Mr. Maeda was appointed as the ninth president of Canon, and although Fujio himself became chairman of the board from chairman and president of Canon, Mr. Maeda, who is 17 years younger than Fujio, who comes from the Mitarai family, the dominant power in Canon, is just a "little boy" in Fujio's eyes.

During Fujio's term as Canon's sixth president (1995-2006), the company was undoubtedly a blue-chip company, but its management began to go awry when Fujio became chairman of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation). Sales of digital cameras, which had boasted the world's top market share, were eroded by smartphones, and sales of printers also slumped. In semiconductor production equipment, the company lost out to ASML. The company was forced to withdraw from the home-use video camera market. Performance continued to fall short of targets.

The world's first mirrorless camera was launched by Panasonic in 2008 under the Micro Four Thirds standard. Immediately after the mirrorless SLR cameras were introduced to the market, they were technically immature in many aspects, so they were not sufficient as cameras for serious use by professionals and high-amateurs. However, various improvements have been made rapidly since then, and they have reached a level that can satisfy even those who demand the best cameras at the earliest stage of their development. On the other hand, SLR cameras have not been able to overcome their shortcomings and it is difficult to further develop their advantages.

Let me point out two serious shortcomings of SLRs.

The first is that the mirror physically moves up and down in the camera, which causes mirror shock and a consequent loss of resolution. As I wrote in a previous article, SLR cameras cannot bring out the full resolution of the image sensor unless you take pictures in a very troublesome and special way, i.e., with the mirror up.

Secondly, the autofocus focus point (focus area) is significantly narrower than that of a mirrorless camera, which limits the composition of the picture. Compare the coverage area of the AF sensor in Sony's α9 with that of the 61-point reticle AF in Canon's EOS-1DX Mark II. It is obvious that the latter is more concentrated near the center of the screen than the former, and not on the periphery of the screen.

Canon released its first mirrorless camera, the EOS M, with an APS-C sensor, which is one size smaller than a full-size camera, in 2012, which was quite late. I bought the EOS M and conducted various tests with it, but it was already outclassed by other companies that were ahead of it in mirrorless SLRs at the time of its initial release in 2012. Mirrorless cameras are a threat to the vested interests of SLRs, so I said to myself, "Mirrorless cameras are toys. If you are serious about photography, please use an SLR camera," I sensed a message from Canon.

However, in 2013, the airheaded Sony introduced the world's first full-frame mirrorless camera, the α7, to the market.After the "Sony Shock" in 2003, Sony faced up to reality and underwent a major rebirth. It had become a company that seriously listens to its customers.

Before writing this article, I interviewed a former employee of Canon Inc. who had left the company because he had grown tired of the company. According to him, although Canon's factories were highly productive, many highly motivated employees left the company and only tea-baggers remained because Fujio, who was in power for a long period of time, obstructed the development of new product concepts.

As I wrote in a previous article, I myself have been a supporter of Canon products, having used Canon SLR cameras for over 30 years. However, recent Canon products do not have the charm that Canon products of the past had. It is a great pity. If Mr. Hajime Hajime, an engineer, were still alive, he would have lamented Canon's current dismal state.

Whenever a new camera is announced, I go to the showrooms of various companies to try it out. If I find what I am looking for, I buy it. If it is not what I am looking for, I tell the camera manufacturer's staff what I want. Sony has been taking customer feedback seriously and reflecting it in the development of new products. Canon, on the other hand, in recent years has ignored customer feedback, giving the impression of alienating users who have been loyal to the company's products for many years.

Now that third-party mount adapters are available, it is possible to use Canon EF lenses with mirrorless SLR cameras that use Sony E-mount lenses, and people who own many Canon EF lenses can use the new "α9 II" without having to buy Sony E-mount lenses. This is a possibility for those who own many Canon EF lenses.

At this rate, we cannot even rule out the possibility that Sony will be the only survivor in the camera market five years from now. We cannot expect proper governance from Canon, which is unable to retire its old, pretentious management, which is unable to discern technology, but is still living in a mansion in Denenchofu.

The day is approaching when the market will give up on Canon, which has fallen into the "innovation dilemma" in the interchangeable lens camera market, the only market where high profits can be expected. As a fan of Canon products, I strongly urge Canon shareholders to remove Mr. Fujio as Chairman and CEO. The market is revitalized when multiple companies engage in friendly competition.

first appearance : AGORA