Canon reports slightly higher profits in Q1, teases new compact cameras on the way
Canon reported its Q1 2012 earnings this week, and things certainly appear to have gone better than the last time we checked in when it replaced the company president. While revenue declined slightly, net profit reached 61.54 billion yen ($766 million), up 11 percent from a year ago. There's no executive moves to report, however on the earnings call executive VP and CFO Toshizo Tanaka noted a unit sales increase of 30 percent for SLR cameras including the new EOS 5D Mark III as well as the cheaper T3i, Mark II and 60D models, combined with strong sales for WiFi-connected point-and-shoots. As far as new products, while its new cinema cameras got a glancing mention the plan this year includes compact cameras "offering the image qualities that approaches SLR cameras", with improved design and network connectivity features. All the numbers and earnings call talk are in black and white at the links below, although we prefer to spend our time speculating about the future of mirrorless cameras.