BEIJING, January 13 (TMTPOST) — Canon Zhuhai will reportedly suspend operation after 32 years of operation, the company said in a letter to the employees.

“The company has faced unprecedented business struggles due to the shrinking global camera market and the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. Despite our best efforts, the company has not been able to reverse the situation,” the company said in the letter. “The company has, therefore, after thorough consideration, made the decision to suspend production and undergo structural adjustments.”

Canon has 15 subsidiaries in China, according to Canon’s official site. Canon’s business operation in China covers printers, equipment, software development, semiconductor devices and medical technologies, etc. Canon Zhuhai is Canon’s only production base that manufactures digital cameras, sensors and lens. The suspension of Canon Zhuhai means Canon has already pulled the production of cameras out of mainland China.

Established in 1990, Canon Zhuhai has been operating in South China’s Zhuhai city for 32 years. The company was set up in Beiling and later moved to Zhuhai’s High Tech Zone in Jinding.

Canon Zhuhai has been seeing a business decline in recent years. In 2019, some employees at Canon Zhuhai posted videos on social media that showed there were very few people in Canon Zhuhai’s factory. It was rumored that Canon Zhuhai had laid off three-tenths of its employees and leased its dorm rooms to college students. Some employees also claimed that their salary in 2020 was lower than that in 2012.

Canon’s third-quarter net income was 49.32 billion Japanese yen or US$440.33 million, significantly higher than last year's 16.66 billion yen. On a per-share basis, earnings were 47.15 Yen or US$0.42, up from 15.93 yen last year. Operating profit was 58.73 billion Yen or US$524.36 million, higher than 19.19 billion yen a year ago. Canon’s Q3 net sales grew 9.8 percent to 833.32 billion Yen or US$7.44 billion from last year's revenue of 758.88 billion yen.