Japan disasters lead to tough months ahead for HDSLR buyers and manufacturers

Posted on 31. Mar, 2011 by planetMitch in 1D MKIV, 5D2, 60D, 7D, T2i, T3, T3i, T3i, Vendors

In the 3 weeks since the disasters struck the shores of Japan, it is becoming more evident that the disasters not only hurt and killed many tens of thousands (which we seriously care much more about!) but the economic impacts to the HDSLR makers and buyers will be high – since this blog is however about the HDSLR industry, we feel the need to report on the potential impacts of those disasters on you the consumers. It appears that there could be some serious impacts – not only to announcements but to deliveries. This tweet was just spotted…

“Breaking: B&H is out of #Canon 5 and 7d DSLRs. Could be months before they restock #japan”

We don’t yet know how much fact there is in the tweet, but there are serious threats to the availability of cameras and electronic gear.

Canon EOS 5d temporarily unavailable at B&H PhotoVideo

Canon rumors reports

This came in today from canonrumors.com – please read the whole story there’s more:

Delays?
Not hearing a lot of positive things about current products and new products because of the Japanese earthquake.

The latest info I’ve received says all of Canon, Nikon and Sony are still unsure what the near future is going to bring.

Canon may be in fact delaying new product announcements. I was told every executive within Canon is being told to “prepare for the worst”. Sales reps are being told not to say anything.

I do not personally know anything about the rolling blackouts and “dead zone” expansion in Japan around Canon manufacturing facilities.

I’ve received no word whether or not Canon is looking at moving some manufacturing to different countries.

Canon EOS 7D unavailable at B&H

Original Canon news

Canon issued a press release (below) back on March 14th and haven’t done any updates since then. So we don’t have any additional official updates but we can guess that they likely aren’t going to be giving tons of details. They don’t want their

Damage Report for Canon Inc. Operations and Canon Companies following Major Earthquake in Japan

Recovery plans

TOKYO, March 14, 2011—In response to the damage sustained by the Canon Group due to the major earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, Canon Inc. has established an Earthquake Disaster Recovery Task Force (Task Force Chief: Chairman & CEO Fujio Mitarai; Task Force Assistant Chief: President & COO Tsuneji Uchida; Executive Director: Executive Vice President and CFO Toshizo Tanaka) and begun taking related measures.

The Task Force today issued the following instructions toward the promotion of swift response measures.

1. The prompt review and drafting of comprehensive recovery plans, spanning development, production and sales operations, for relevant operating sites, primarily by persons in charge of each business (chief executives/group executives).
The Company’s headquarter divisions will provide full support for this effort.

2. With regard to Canon Inc. operation sites and Canon Group companies for which production operations may be suspended for one month or more, the Company will also consider making use of alternate sites that were not damaged by the earthquake as a means of continuing production.

Below is an overview of the latest impact of the earthquake on Canon operations in Japan as of 15:00 JST on Monday, March 14, 2011.

• While the level of damage differs at each Canon Inc. operation site and Canon Group company located in northern Honshu (the area hardest hit by the earthquake), beginning today, the Company is earnestly taking action to realize the earliest possible start of operations.
  At this time, however, concrete schedules for when production may resume have yet to be determined.
• As for Canon plants and Group companies in the western half of Honshu, while operations resumed as usual today (Monday, March 14), the Company is now working to ascertain whether or not there will be any impact on production at each location.
• With regard to the Japanese government’s requests for cooperation in conserving electricity, in addition to the energy-saving measures Canon promotes as a matter of course, the Company has also called on its employees to make every effort to conserve electricity in their homes.

Our take

Manufacturers sure don’t have to tell us what exactly is going on – it may be better to leave the consumer wondering because after all, they’re trying to make money by selling product. We’ll have to see how much info comes out about their ability to make and deliver products around the world… but we do suspect that some product announcements will be delayed – after all, why announce something if you’re not sure about your ability to deliver. Of course, you could take the route of announcing something but then warning the consumer that it won’t be available until many months out.

(cover photo credit: snap from the B&H website)

Support planet5D

Please support planet5D by using these links before buying absolutely anything (software, cameras, equipment, diapers – ANYTHING) – it adds no cost!

We love to bring you guys the best HDSLR info on the planet. It will help us to keep doing that if we have your continued support. And, if you buy something from our advertisers, please let them know you follow planet5D.

please check the planet5D HDSLR consumer review and shopping guide

Profile for planetMitch

Tags: 2011, canon, delay, DSLR video, earthquake, economic, HDSLR, japan, manufacturing, nikon, panasonic, sony, tsunami