![\"image-1\"](\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Image-1-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nImage 1: Ellen’s Oscar selfie<\/p>\n
Photos, photos everywhere<\/strong><\/p>\n Recognize the picture? Ellen DeGeneres live tweeted this famous Oscar 2014 selfie. Favorited over 7,00,000 times and retweeted more than 1.7 million times, Twitter temporarily crashed with the enormous traffic the photo attracted1<\/sup>. The photo wasn\u2019t taken on a Canon or Sony camera but with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photos and Smartphones: Inseparable<\/strong><\/p>\n Stars aren\u2019t the only ones who like selfies. We all do! We use smartphones to click photographs, preferring the \u2018all-in-one\u2019 device to a separate camera. One may argue that the quality of a photo from a camera is superior. Although true earlier, frequent upgrades in smartphone cameras have significantly improved image quality. The images below taken from iPhones 1\u20136 show an improvement in quality with each upgrade. The iPhone 6s has a superior 12-megapixel camera, backside illumination sensor and several features which contribute to high quality images3<\/sup>. This short video<\/a>4<\/sup> compares the quality of videos taken on an iPhone 6s and Canon\u2019s DSLR.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image 2: Comparison of images taken from iPhones 1-6<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Smartphones offer more features than cameras and both are available at multiple price points. More than convenience and low cost, the biggest advantage is being connected to the internet. With connectivity, photos and videos can be shared quickly, easily and in real time. The result: a staggering 1.8 billion photos are shared across social media networks such as Facebook, Snapchat etc every day! This ability has become a \u2018sticky\u2019 point for customers. As Christopher Chute, Director of worldwide digital imaging at IDC, a market intelligence firm, rightly points out \u201cImage quality is now second to connectivity to web services like Facebook5<\/sup>\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Impact on camera companies<\/strong><\/p>\n With users switching to phone cameras, the camera industry has seen an erosion in their value proposition. The graphs below illustrate the decline in camera sales over the years. Compact cameras, suffered the heaviest decline, reaching a peak in 2010 and reducing thereafter to ~40 million units in 20156<\/sup>. Even high-end cameras with interchangeable-lens (ILC\u2019s) used by professional photographers, a category thought to be protected against the threat of smartphones, witnessed a 9.1% year-on-year decline in global shipment in 20136<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Canon, the Japanese camera maker and a global market leader, has been severely affected too. In 2013, Canon VP Toshizo Tanaka\u2019s public statement, \u201cThe changes in the business environment are very severe.7<\/sup>\u201d, summed up the enormity of the challenges ahead. The company\u2019s stock price has lost more than half its value since 2007 and has repeatedly missed earnings targets in recent years8<\/sup>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image 3 & 4: Decline in sales and shipment of cameras<\/p>\n Canon\u2019s response<\/strong><\/p>\n In the short term, Canon slashed prices, especially on compact cameras. The decline in this segment was inevitable as customers were price sensitive and saw more value in smartphones, priced similarly.<\/p>\n Instead, Canon decided to cater to professional photographers, the higher end of the market. The company leveraged its strength of selling high quality cameras, something they felt smartphones could not provide.<\/p>\n In 2015, Canon launched over eight new models. All promised high quality photos and videos with the important upgrade, being wi-fi connectivity. This meant one could click photos, connect to their smartphone and share them across social media instantly. The price of $430 though, seemed high. This could keep customers away, given the wide price range of smartphones9<\/sup>.<\/p>\n With these efforts, Canon has retained dominant market share in 2015 in the high-end segments; ~55% in the DSLR and ~21% in the ILC segment10,11<\/sup>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Other potential measures<\/strong><\/p>\n Canon could have started a separate B2B business unit and partnered with phone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung to supply camera components such as sensors etc. Catering to their desire of continuous improvements in the phone camera, this could have been a win-win partnership. Canon could have leveraged its core competency of making high quality cameras and changed its operating model to adapt to new circumstances. Sony is doing this by expanding its profitable image sensor business with increased demand from customers like Apple and Xiaomi. As the saying goes, \u201cWhen there\u2019s a gold rush, sell shovels!12<\/sup>\u201d<\/p>\n Targeting professional photographers with new launches and including wi-fi connectivity is certainly innovative. The company should also invest in R&D to develop radically new products. Sleeker, lighter and trendier cameras may appeal to younger and price sensitive customers, who have switched to smartphone cameras. Similarly, R&D can help Canon reduce prices to attract lost customers.<\/p>\n The Socialmatic or Instagram camera (image below) is one such example. Designed by ADR Studio, it is meant for Instagram fans. The camera has wi-fi connectivity, sufficient storage space, can be used to upload photos to Instagram from the device itself and can print polaroid pictures13<\/sup>. It is trendy and reasonably priced, starting at ~ $100.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image 5: The Instagram or Socialmatic Camera<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The challenge of competing with smartphones is immense but frequent and radical innovation is a way for Canon to remain relevant in these changing times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (791 words)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n 1<\/sup>Fahy, Colette. \u201cThe epic selfie that broke twitter.\u201d DailyMail.com, March 2, 2014. [http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/article-2571848\/Ellen-DeGeneres-wins-A-List-Oscars-crowd-gentle-teasing-Liza-Minnelli-not-impressed-mistaken-male-impersonator.html<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 2<\/sup>Edwards, Jim. \u201cPlanet Selfie: We\u2019re now posting a staggering 1.8 billion photos every day.\u201d Business Insider, May 28, 2014. [http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/were-now-posting-a-staggering-18-billion-photos-to-social-media-every-day-2014-5<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 3<\/sup>Apple. \u201ciPhone.\u201d http:\/\/www.apple.com\/iphone\/compare\/<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 4<\/sup>PhoneArena. \u201cApple iPhone 6s vs DSLR camera: video comparison (4K vs 1080p).\u201d YouTube, published October 16, 2015. [https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kWNIwOzInQU<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup>Ewoldt, John. \u201cSmartphones are changing the picture for camera sales.\u201d Journal Sentinel, December 22, 2013. [http:\/\/archive.jsonline.com\/business\/smartphones-are-changing-the-picture-for-camera-sales-b99167684z1-236955581.html<\/a>], accesses November 2016.<\/p>\n 6<\/sup>Osawa, Juro. \u201cPhones Imperil Fancy Cameras.\u201d Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2013. [http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10001424052702304672404579183643696236868<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 7<\/sup>Crothers, Brook. \u201cCanon hit by rising popularity of smartphone cameras.\u201d Cnet.com, July 25, 2013. [https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/canon-hit-by-rising-popularity-of-smartphone-cameras\/<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 8<\/sup>Source: Stock price of Canon, via Nasdaq, accessed November 2016. http:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/symbol\/caj\/interactive-chart<\/a><\/p>\n 9<\/sup>Dent, Steve. \u201cCanon\u2019s newest connected cameras: when a smartphone still won\u2019t do.\u201d Engadget.com, January 5, 2015. [https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2015\/01\/05\/canons-newest-connected-cameras-when-a-smartphone-still-wont\/<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 10<\/sup>Samuels, Liron. \u201cJapan has spoken: Canon dominates, Sony dethrones Olympus and Nikon stutter.\u201d Diyphotography.net, February 21, 2015. [http:\/\/www.diyphotography.net\/japan-has-spoken-canon-dominates-sony-dethrones-olympus-and-nikon-stutters\/<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 11<\/sup>Canon. \u201cNews.\u201d http:\/\/global.canon\/en\/news\/2016\/20160329.html<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 12<\/sup>Arthur, Charles. \u201cCamera-makers focus on adapting to smartphones\u2019 market surge.\u201d The Guardian, April 13, 2015. [https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2015\/apr\/13\/cameras-slrs-dslr-overtaken-by-smartphones-charles-arthur<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n 13<\/sup>Savvides, Lexy. \u201cSocialmatic camera for Instagram runs Android.\u201d Cnet.com, September 9, 2012. [https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/socialmatic-camera-for-instagram-fans-runs-android\/<\/a>], accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Images<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Canon's attempt to remain relevant in the age of smartphones<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2186,"featured_media":19322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[594,2711,2710,2394,2712,853,2501],"class_list":["post-19287","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camera","category-canon","category-photo","category-photography","category-selfie","category-video","category-video-camera"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n