Slow European demand for printers hits Canon

[Anonymous]

Slow European demand for printers hits Canon

Poor economic conditions in Europe and and the US were blamed by Canon for a slide in demand for some of its printer products and following its financial results the vendor has shaken up its boardroom.

Net sales and pre-tax income for the fiscal year 2011 grew by 4% and 4.7% respectively compared to a year earlier but there were weak forecasts for 2012 and the prospects were not good enough to prevent the president Tuneji Uchida from stepping down to be replaced by the CEO Fujio Mitarai.

From a European perspective the state of the continental economy was blamed for causing problems and although demand for multifunction printers grew the same could not be said for some of the other product segments.
"As for laser printers, while booming demand in emerging economies fueled steady unit sales growth of primarily monochrome models in the first half of the year, demand slowed in the second half, mainly in European markets," the vendor stated in its results.

As for the outlook in 2012, the future remains increasingly uncertain amid growing concern over a global economic slowdown due to a lack of progress in resolving the euro debt crisis," the vendor stated.

"In the United States, barring any radical improvement in unemployment conditions and housing problems, the economy is expected to realize only moderate growth. In Europe, the top priority is to contain the debt crisis with the economy expected to be stagnant for the time being," it added.

[Author]

February 8, 2012 at 8:07 AM