Canon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 2

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CORPORATE PROFILE
Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) and the Canon Group develop, produce, and market
a wide range of products used in the home, the office, and industry, including
business machines, cameras, and optical products. The Canon Group provides
employment for over 108,000 people worldwide.
Under its corporate philosophy of kyosei, or living and working together
for the common good, the Group as a whole aims to create new technologies
and entire new genres of products, and, through their commercialization,
make new contributions to people and communications around the world.
The Canon Group pursues a variety of environmental and philanthropic
activities and focuses on fulfilling its duties to investors and society by stressing
good corporate governance throughout its activities.
In fiscal 2004, under our management strategy, Phase II of the Excellent
Global Corporation Plan, we reported the highest level of sales and net income
in our history, the fifth consecutive year of gains in both sales and income.
The corporate philosophy of Canon is kyosei. A concise definition of this word
would be “Living and working together for the common good,” but our
definition is broader: “All people, regardless of race, religion, or culture,
harmoniously living and working together into the future.” Unfortunately, the
presence of imbalance in our world—in areas such as trade, income levels, and
the environment—hinders the achievement of kyosei. Addressing these
imbalances is an ongoing mission, and Canon is doing its part by actively
pursuing kyosei. True global companies must foster good relations, not only
with their customers and the communities in which they operate, but also with
nations and the environment. They must also bear the responsibility for the
impact of their activities on society. For this reason, Canon’s goal is to contribute
to the prosperity of the world and the happiness of humanity, which will lead
to continuing growth and bring the world closer to achieving kyosei.
CORPORATE GOAL
Fiscal 2005 is the concluding year for Phase II of the Excellent Global Corporation
Plan, which the Company began to implement in fiscal 2001. The theme of the
next medium-term plan, Phase III, which will begin in fiscal 2006, will be “Toward
Healthy Growth,” maintaining a high margin structure.
Cover Photo:
Equipped with our original image-processing engine, iR
Controller, the imageRUNNER C3220(iR C3220 in some areas)
actively manages printing, copying, scanning, and e-mail
efficiently, while processing color as well as monochrome
images with equal ease. The Multifunctional Embedded
Application Platform (MEAP) also allows users to customize
their own applications.
CONTENTS
1 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
2 TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS
4 CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
Our Management Strategy
Our Corporate Governance Structure
Significant Differences in Corporate
Governance Practices between
Canon and U.S. Companies Listed
on the NYSE
10 CORPORATE FUNCTIONS
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
PRODUCTION
SALES & MARKETING
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Canon’s Approach to CSR
Encouraging Employee Initiatives
Contributing to Society
Environment-Conscious Management
21 PRODUCT GROUP SUMMARY
22 CANON PRODUCT GROUPS
OFFICE IMAGING PRODUCTS
COMPUTER PERIPHERALS
CAMERAS
OPTICAL AND OTHER PRODUCTS
30 MAJOR CONSOLIDATED SUBSIDIARIES
31 FINANCIAL SECTION
83 TRANSFER AND REGISTRARS OFFICE
SHAREHOLDERS’ INFORMATION
CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY: Kyosei