Canon profit tumbles 20.5% on weak camera demand

Japan's Canon said Monday that its net profit fell 20.5 percent in the first six months of the year as smartphones increasingly take a bite out of demand for digital cameras.

The photography and office equipment giant reported a 102.13 billion yen ($830 million) profit for the January-June period, while operating profit fell 11.5 percent to 170.90 billion yen.

Sales ticked up 2.0 percent to 1.83 trillion yen from a year earlier.

"Demand for digital cameras with exchangeable lenses and compact cameras were both below the previous year's levels," the company said.

Canon also trimmed its full-year forecast to a net profit of 245 billion yen, down from an earlier 255 billion yen projection.

Annual sales are expected to come in at 3.93 trillion yen, up from 3.86 trillion expected earlier.

"The demand for multi-function printers are expected to keep growing moderately" later this year, it said.

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