Canon also reported increased sales in its production printing business compared with the previous year, due to strong sales of its varioPRINT iX series of high-speed cut-sheet colour inkjet presses. But overall Printing Unit profit was down due to a decline in non-hardware sales.
Canon's varioPRINT iX inkjet press
“In the first half of the year, we were unable to supply enough products to meet demand due to the shortage of semiconductors and other parts and components, which was made worse by Shanghai’s lockdown,” Canon said. “However, in the third quarter, by further promoting design changes and the procurement of alternative parts, we were largely able to produce products in the volume we planned for.
"The increase in product supply led to higher unit sales in each business and coupled with the yen’s depreciation, revenue increased for the seventh consecutive quarter, to 996.1 billion yen or 19.5%.”
Sales increased significantly to 81.4 billion yen and net income rose 9.7% to 54.1 billion yen.
Results by Segment
In the Printing Business Unit, unit sales increased compared with the previous year due to the recovery of demand for office MFDs following improvements in the supply of semiconductor chips. Revenue from services and consumables increased moderately compared with the previous year due to the recovery in work in office.
As for laser printers and inkjet printers, unit sales increased significantly compared with the previous year due to recovery from stagnant production activities. However, consumables decreased compared with the previous year as demand from customers working from home slowed down.
For equipment in the production printing market, sales increased compared with the previous year due to strong sales of the varioPRINT iX series of high-speed cut-sheet colour inkjet presses, while revenue from services also increased.
These factors resulted in total sales for the business unit of ¥551.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.1%, while income before income taxes decreased by 29.9% year-on-year to ¥43.5 billion, due to the increased costs of parts and logistics and the increase in the ratio of hardware caused by stabilization of production supply.
Outlook
The outlook for the global economy from the fourth quarter onwards is expected to maintain a recovery trend. However, although the shortage of semiconductor chips is gradually improving, the outlook remains uncertain due to risks such as the prolonged Ukraine crisis, curbing of consumption as inflation progresses and curbing investment due to rising interest rates.
In the markets in which Canon operates, demand for office MFDs is expected to remain solid. However, there are concerns that the demand for laser printers and inkjet printers would be affected by the decrease of demand from customers working from home and the current economic slowdown.
Upon taking into consideration of the current economic forecast, although the Printing Business unit is expected to be sluggish amid the inflation and hikes of interest rates, demand for other business units is expected to remain firm.
