A new Canon DSLR factory, the construction of which was delayed by the global recession, has opened.
Building work on the £80m Canon plant was due to begin in January 2008 and production expected to start in December 2009.
However, Canon delayed its construction as poor consumer demand threatened to hit sales of digital cameras.
Canon plans to make two million digital cameras there, including DSLRs, in 2010, rising to 4m next year, according to Pen News Weekly.
The factory, at Hazami, Nagasaki Prefecture, has created 850 jobs and will add a further 150 next year, according to the Japan-based publication.
Its first shipment was a batch of Canon PowerShot G11 digital compacts which left the factory earlier this month.
Announcing plans to delay the factory in 2008, the firm said: ?Growth in demand for digital cameras has rapidly declined compared with original projections due to the global economic downturn triggered by the failure of major U.S. securities firms, which has necessitated a revision of earlier production plans.
‘This serious drop in demand is expected to continue for a period of time.?
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