Canon has released its financial results for the second quarter of 2020, and they reveal lots of red ink as the virus struck globally from April to June. Across the board the company faced challenging trading conditions and the Imaging Division was no exception. Net sales were ¥141.7 billion ($1.35 billion) which represents a year-on-year fall of 30.8%. Operating profit was ¥800 million ($7.65 million), which represents a whopping 93.9% decline, year-on-year.

The company blames the net sales decline on there being ‘fewer image capturing opportunities, such as travel and other events’ due to Covid-19. Canon added, ‘For the full year, we expect the interchangeable-lens camera market to be down 40% to 5.4 million units. In terms of our own unit sales, we expect a similar rate of decline.’ Canon is looking for positives, though. ‘Although the pace of market contraction has accelerated, our view is that sooner or later the market will settle down.’ The firm cited the release of the EOS R5 (above) and R6 as strengthening its position in the full-frame mirrorless market and noted more use of cameras for online meetings. See here for the full financial results.