CanonWatch spotted and interesting interview made by Asciijp with Canon manager Yagi Koichi:
Canon Marketing Japan Imaging System Company, president Yagi Koichi Managing Executive Officer [says] “in the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2015, we have been able to ship a lot of mirror-less […] cameras, [but we are] not yet satisfied […]. At present [we are working on] new products, but [we can not] mention, the third quarter in 2016, towards the fourth quarter and that the mirror-less market is forecast to grow, Canon’s share of the mirror-less camera market [in the last] two years ago [was] the 4. position, we want to aim at the 3. position [intended as ranking, editor’s note]. By all means [we want to get the] second place this year […]. And, because second place [is the] middle of the goal, [as] soon as possible [we] want to take the seat of the number one[…].
Within the interview Canon makes it clear:
- They want to focus on the mirrorless system camera development
- They hint more “premium” (FF?) mirrorless system cameras could come in late 2016
- They want to become the second player on the market (behind Sony). This would mean surpass MFT and Fuji within 2016.
I am not sure what Canon’s plan is. The EOS-M system has basically ZERO lens development. So if they are going FF will they abandon APS-C lens development just like Sony did?