Corporate Background
Canon Inc. was founded in 1937. Canon Europe was established twenty years later in 1957
Canon Inc. employs more than 160,000 people worldwide. Canon Europe employs over 11,000 people across 20 local country operations in the EMEA region.
Canon’s consolidated net sales for Canon Inc. for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 were ¥774 billion (US $8,604 million) (July 1, 2009 - September 30, 2009). Canon’s consolidated net sales for Canon Inc. for the first nine months of 2009 (ended September 30, 2009) totalled ¥2,255 billion (US$ 25,057 million or 17.1 billion euro) (at exchange rate of ¥90 = US $1). Euro amounts are translated solely for the convenience of the reader from yen at the rate of JPY 132 = 1 euro, the approximate exchange rate on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange market as of September 30, 2009.
Canon Europe contributes approximately a third of the company’s global revenue, selling to customers in more than 110 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Canon’s first European manufacturing site, Canon Giessen GmbH, was established in Germany in 1972
Canon’s corporate philosophy is encapsulated in the word Kyosei, meaning living and working together for the common good
Brand
Canon’s Brand Promise is to help people realise the Power of Image
The European Brand Strapline,You Can, was launched in 2002 and is designed to inspire and encourage customers to realise the Power of Image
Canon was ranked 33rd in the Business Week 100 Best Global Brands 2009 survey
Canon has also been awarded Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Camera Brand in Europe for 9 consecutive years
Canon was ranked 4th in the Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies 2009 Industry ranking (‘Computers’ category)
Environmental initiatives
Canon launched its toner recycling system in 1990
Canon is reducing CO2 emissions by shortening transportation routes and promoting rail transportation in Europe
Technology & Innovation
Canon’s Imaging Engines were created by integrating a series of technologies developed throughout Canon’s history. They are the core technologies in all of Canon’s current products:
Image Capture Engine – High resolution and high image quality for lens, sensor and image processing technologies
Electrophotography Engine – Electrophotography technology is at the heart of laser beam printers and copying machines that have been rated as the best in the world
Inkjet Engine – Capable of delivering mircroscopic ink droplets as small as one picolitre (one-trillionth of a litre), even making DNA chip fabrication possible
Photolithography Engine – Canon’s semiconductor exposure technology integrates the ultimate in optical and ultraprecision positioning technologies
Display Engine – Next generation flat screen display technology delivers large screen, high quality images with low power consumption
Canon is Europe’s market leader in D-SLR*
The Canon EOS 450D and EOS 400D are the best selling D-SLRs*
Canon was the inventor of the Bubble Jet method of inkjet printing and introduced the industry’s first cartridge-type copying machine
Sponsorship
Canon Europe partners with the Red Cross by supporting youth orientated projects across 13 European countries
Canon Europe became the first WWF Conservation Partner in Europe, Middle East and Africa in 1998. Since 2007, Canon Europe has sponsored a WWF polar bear tracking programme designed to stop the decline of the polar bear population and raise awareness of the effects of climate change
Canon Europe has a 30-year history of supporting football, with past and current sponsorships including the following:
Official Sponsor of UEFA EURO 2008™
UEFA Cup Final, UEFA Super Cup 2007
Russian Premier Football League
Africa Cup of Nations 2008
Canon Europe is the Principal sponsor of the London and Milan Fashion Weeks and is a sponsor of Paris Fashion Week
Research and Development
In fiscal 2008, the Company increased R&D expenditure by ¥5.8 billion from the previous fiscal year to ¥374 billion, accounting for 9% of sales. From this total,
¥123.5 billion, or 33%, was allocated to the Business Machines segment
¥45.5 billion, or 12.2%, went to the Cameras segment
¥205 billion, or 54.8% went to the Optical and Other Products segment
In 2009, the Company was granted 2,206 patents** in the United States, placing it fourth among all corporations
Canon has ranked among the top 10 U.S. patent recipients since 1984 (a 26-year period)
Canon has ranked among the top 4 U.S. patent recipients since 1992 (an 18-year period)
Canon has ranked among the top 5 U.S. patent recipients in 23 of the last 24 years
