Corporate Background
Canon Inc. was founded in 1937. Canon Europe was established twenty years later in 1957
Canon Inc. employs more than 190,000 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 first half of fiscal 2010 were ¥1,726 billion (US $19,612 million) (January 1, 2010 - June 30, 2010). Canon’s consolidated net sales for Canon Inc. for the year 2009 (ended December 31, 2009) totalled ¥3,209 billion (US $34,883 million or 24.3 billion euro). Euro and Dollar amounts are translated solely for the convenience of the reader from yen at the rate of JPY 132 = 1 euro and JPY 92 = US $1 respectively, the approximate exchange rate on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange market as of December 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 36th in the Business Week 100 Best Global Brands 2008 survey
Canon has also been awarded Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Camera Brand in Europe for 10 consecutive years
Canon was ranked 6th in the Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies 2010 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 is the number 1 selling D-SLR model, followed by the EOS 1000D*
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 2009, the Company invested ¥304.6 billion in R&D, accounting for 9.5% of sales. From this total,
¥78.9 billion, or 26%, was allocated to the Office segment
¥74.1 billion, or 24%, went to the Consumer segment
¥151.6 billion, or 50% went to the Industry and Others segment
In 2009, the Company was granted 2,204 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 5 U.S patent recipients from 1992 to 2009 (a 18-year period)
Canon has ranked among the top 3 U.S patent recipients in 21 of last 23 years
* Source: GfK WEU6 Jan-Nov 2009 (volume). Includes Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain and The Netherlands.
**Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Calculated based upon announcements of weekly totals.