This is how I feel things are for Canon. They were getting ready to start developing something truly evolutionary, even perhaps revolutionary when Sony surprised the world with the Exmor technolgy. They were late at this because they were too busy converting the company's imaging branch to still/video/cine manufacturing. Mistake? Only time will tell.
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There is little doubt that Canon lags behind the competition on one specific parameter - both visibly and measurably, namely shadow noise at low ISO settings.
This does not necessarily make Canon a bad choice, nor does it make Canon incompetent. They are making decent amount of profits, while their competitors are in worse shape. So perhaps using their own sensor manufacture line allows them to reduce cost, while limiting them from using some cutting-edge technologies. Or perhaps their video implementation means some compromises on image quality. Or perhaps they simply have found that very few photographers really need or can appreciate 14 Ev of DR, and even those that do can (often) get by using exposure bracketing.
I'd dare to guess that a wide selection of good quality/value/versatility lenses and flashes is more important to most users. To many, ergonomy/AF/AE/gui plays an important role in getting the right pictures.
There is an economy side to this as well as an enthusiast side. As an enthusiast, I want "my" brand to be as good as or better than the competition on every parameter that counts (to me). Taking a step back, I realize that their only obligation is to make stuff that generates profit.
-h