UPDATE 3-Canon Q3 profit tumbles, copier outlook murky
* Canon July-Sept operating profit down 54 pct
* Profit roughly in line with market estimates
* Annual outlook unchanged, misses estimates
* Digital camera demand strong, copiers weak
* Ricoh posts 69 pct fall in quarterly operating profit (Updates with U.S. share activity)
TOKYO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Japanese office equipment makers Canon Inc (7751.T) and Ricoh Co (7752.T) posted sharp falls in quarterly profit on sluggish copier demand as companies reined in spending.
Since the global downturn last year, companies worldwide have been cutting costs by curbing fresh purchases and replacements of printers and copiers as well as printing less, battering the profitability of office gear suppliers.
Both Canon and Ricoh stood by their annual operating profit forecasts, which are down 62 percent and 46 percent, respectively, as they see no clear end to the current slump in office equipment demand.
"There's a lot of pent-up IT upgrade demand among companies. But copiers and printers lag other things like PCs among their priorities," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
"Office equipment makers cannot be top picks for investors unless the overall economy and corporate earnings make a further and sharper recovery."
Shares of Canon trading in the United States fell 2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange to $38.16 on Tuesday afternoon after Canon turned an operating profit of 60 billion yen ($652 million) for the July-September quarter.
The profit was down 54 percent from a year earlier, and in line with the 58.4 billion yen profit expected, on average, by six analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
For a graphic of Canon's quarterly operating profit and share price moves, click:
Canon, the world's No. 1 digital camera maker ahead of Sony Corp (6758.T), enjoyed strong demand for its single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, which are high-end models with interchangeable lenses. Continued...
