Canon Says It Will Raise Camera Prices as Memory Costs Climb

Canon has told investors it will raise product prices from next year onward to offset rising procurement costs, making it the most explicit camera maker yet to commit to passing memory-price inflation on to photographers. The statement came during the question-and-answer session that followed the company's FY2026 Q3 financial results, as Digital Camera Life reports.

The mechanism behind the increase is straightforward. Flash memory supply is shrinking because AI data centers are bidding for the same components camera makers need. Companies compete for a smaller pool, and component prices rise. Canon confirmed that both its Printing and Imaging segments face "component shortages" of circuit boards and electronic components.

What did Canon actually say?

Canon's own words leave little room for interpretation.

"For components that are in short supply, we are using every possible means to secure the quantities we need for next year. As a result, we expect higher procurement costs, but our policy is to offset those increases through price increases from next year onward," Canon said.

The company added: "We have already been making pricing adjustments in response to cost increases as they occur, and we will continue to make decisions on passing on costs from a long-term perspective, while considering the potential impact on sales volumes and balancing that against profitability."

Two facts matter for working photographers. First, Canon expects its costs to rise next year. Second, Canon's stated policy is to offset those costs through consumer price increases rather than absorbing them. The company does frame this as a balancing act — selling more cameras protects market share and lens sales, so full pass-through is not guaranteed — but the direction is clear.

Canon also said, in response to a separate question, that it does not expect memory and raw material prices to decline in 2027. That timeline signals a multi-year cost problem for the industry, not a single-quarter squeeze.

How bad is the margin pressure right now?

Canon projects a significantly lower operating profit ratio in its Imaging business for Q4. The company attributes this primarily to higher memory costs and to cost increases following the geopolitical strife in the Middle East.

Notably, the current quarter's pain is not yet covered by pricing.

"At this point, we have not been able to fully pass these higher costs on through pricing," Canon said. "If these higher costs persist next year, we will absorb them through price increases."

The broader results were otherwise unremarkable — overall operating profit and net income increased considerably year-over-year — which suggests the pricing conversation is driven by component costs rather than weak demand.

Is Canon alone in this?

No. The pattern is already visible across the industry:

• Fujifilm cited rising raw material prices in its routine August financial reporting — the first signal, as PetaPixel noted at the time.
• Nikon discussed "higher costs" resulting from higher memory prices earlier this year.
• Sony blamed increased memory costs for hurting its bottom line in the Imaging business.

Canon is simply the most open about the remedy. Passing costs to consumers is effectively the default strategy across the technology sector, and other manufacturers will very likely follow.

Photographers have recent precedent for how this unfolds. As DPReview observes, camera and lens prices have already risen because of President Trump's tariff policies, alongside the more visible hikes in memory card and SSD prices. The tariff episode functioned as a live test of companies passing operational costs directly to customers, and the market absorbed it.

What should photographers do?

Memory is integral to digital cameras; there is no workaround that avoids it. Manufacturers need it, and it is getting more expensive. More expensive cameras are, as a practical matter, inevitable.

For professionals budgeting gear investment, the practical read is this: Canon has put a date on the increases — next year onward — and has said the cost pressure will not resolve in 2027. Anyone planning body or lens purchases against a multi-year replacement cycle may find the current price list more favorable than the next one.

"Photographers, many of whom were exhausted by the seemingly unending tariff-induced price increases last year, must unfortunately brace themselves for the impact of memory prices. They are coming," PetaPixel predicted in August. Canon's investor Q&A has now confirmed the schedule.