I really hope that the rumoured Q2 announcements actually ship in Q2 as well, but that will be very tight with the predicted end-of-May announcement date.
Part of the problem with sales in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 was that they did not deliver enough lenses of certain models: 10-20, 200-800, 100-300 etc. all remain difficult to find. I haven't look into availability of other lenses.
Which, in some way, is good news for Canon: they are selling every copy of those lenses that gets produced.
and in other ways it means that they could have sold more if they had been able to deliver them
Remember during COVID when new cars were in short supply and the usual dealer discounts were not happening? Even though auto sales declined in terms of unit volume, auto dealer and manufacturer profits saw huge gains.and in other ways it means that they could have sold more if they had been able to deliver them
So Canon is prioritizing high volume and low margin lenses (e.g. consumer grade lenses)? Isn't that detrimental to the bottom line and operating margins?
Not suggesting that, rather that they are restricting production (or distribution) of the new, high-margin lenses to keep demand high and thus obviate any pressure for discounting that cuts into the margins.
That seems like a rather convoluted explanation of the stock situation to me. I imagine Canon would rather take the revenue and profit now instead of behaving like Rolex in terms of restricting supply (and people tolerate Rolex only because the market price for some watches are higher than the MSRP). This is especially true with the 100-300, which, like other superteles, will never be discounted in its lifecycle.
