As reported by the popular Chinese news outlet cnBeta.COM, Hideki Ozawa, chairman of Canon China, stated that the company is seeking to partner with smartphone manufacturers. That can lead to interesting cooperation that can boost camera and lens capabilities in smartphones, or to a stand-alone smartphone made by Canon. Is the Canon phone on its way? 

Camera companies and smartphones manufacturers

It’s not a secret that today’s smartphones are armed with advanced camera technologies, bigger sensors, and professional codecs. De facto, smartphone companies recruit top-notch cinematographers to market their mobile flagship. For instance, Galaxy S23 Ultra ($399 on Amazon) and director Ridley Scott, iPhone ($1,119 on Amazon) and DP Emanuel Lubezki, with legend Steven Spielberg, and there’s more. Furthermore, there’s a trend to market smartphones by utilizing them on actual big-screen productions (read: This Blockbuster Was Shot Entirely on a Smartphone). Hence, it was a matter of time till the mighty Canon would want to explore this opportunity as well. The popular Chinese news outlet cnBeta.COM has reported that Canon is studying cooperation with mobile phone manufacturers. It was confirmed by Hideki Ozawa, chairman of Canon China.

We have seen the trend and trend of cooperation between smartphone manufacturers and camera manufacturers, and we have been studying this matter. As for when we will take further action.

Mr. Hiroki Ozawa, Chairman of Canon China to the cnBeta.COM

Canon and smartphones

As stated by cnBeta.COM (Google Translated from Chinese): “In a recent interview, Mr. Hiroki Ozawa, Chairman of Canon China, acknowledged the increasing wave of collaboration between smartphone and camera manufacturers. He revealed that Canon has been actively researching this area, but the timing of their potential actions is still under consideration and decision-making. Recognizing the industry’s ongoing trend, Canon aims to make an independent judgment in alignment with the demands of the current market. The cooperation between mobile phone brands and professional camera companies is not new. On the one hand, they can learn from their rich experience in imaging and optics, and on the other hand, they can also leverage each other’s brand. Play a certain role in boosting its brand value. For example, Vivo and Zeiss, OPPO and Hasselblad, and Xiaomi and Leica have all achieved good cooperation results. Canon, a major Japanese video manufacturer, seems to be gearing up for it”. Furthermore, Ozawa added that: “We have seen the trend and trend of cooperation between smartphone manufacturers and camera manufacturers, and we have been studying this matter. As for when we will take further action, This still needs to be considered and further decided. Now that we have noticed this trend of the times, we will also make our independent judgments according to the requirements of the times”.

Closing thoughts

The implementation of Canon’s imaging technology into smartphones is just a matter of time. Moreover, as opposed to other camera manufacturers, Canon can fabricate its sensors. It has a vast knowledge of developing high-end cameras and lenses. Hence, the hybridization with smartphones seems to be just right and logical. Nevertheless, we don’t know if Canon will go like Leica or Zeiss, or would it go in the RED Digital Cinema direction, which means a whole Canon smartphone. RED tried this with Hydrogen, and it failed. However, Canon has much more resources, knowledge, money, and patents, which can face the challenges of developing a ‘Canon smartphone’ from scratch. Anyway, it’s premature to even talk about it. But it will happen, eventually.