Despite a global economic slowdown, especially in Europe and China, Canon has reported a strong Q2 result with an overall (Printing, Medical, Camera, Semiconductors) of +14% over 2023. Drupa boosted commercial print sales, notably with inkjet.
Good reason to smile - Canon produced this clever stair graphic on Colorado-M for June's drupa expo, Germany
Canon says the strong Q2 result portends an equally strong remaing two quarters and annual result projected to be around AUD$46 billion. Sales reached ¥2,156.3 billion (AUD$22 billion) in the first half.
Commercial print, which excludes office and home printers where Canon has an OEM agreement with HP, were ¥111.2 billion (AUD1.1 billion) for Q2 and are projected to reach ¥443.2 billion (AUD4.4 billion) for the full year,
Operating profit for commercial printing increased even more, probably thanks to inkjet ink revenues which are notoriously profitable - + 33% higher in Q2 2024.
Canon says that successes with the ColorStream reel-fed inkjet press, the Colorado M series of large format printers and the ImagePress cut-sheet series were contributing factors to the encouraging results. Such success is predicted to continue as the shift from lito offset to digital gathers pace.
This shift was exemplified by the announcement on drupa day one, that Canon and Heidelberg have formed a co-operation on digital B3 and B2 cut-sheet inkjet presses, which Canon will manufacture but will be branded under Heidelberg's own name - Jetfire. The benefits of this to Canon will show in the longer-terms and the Jetfire 75 B2 will not be available until 2026 but the B3 Jetfire 50, based on Canon's iX3200, is available now, giving Heidelberg customers a choice between inkjet and toner B3 as it also OEMs its Versafire EP toner device from Ricoh.
Wide format continues to be strong for Canon with its Arizona flatbed and Colorado UVget roll-fed models.
