Canon 2008 Annual Report Download - page 40

38
2
5.4
%
PRODUCT GROUPS
M
asa
y
a Maeda
C
hie
f
Executive, Ima
g
e Communication Products Operations
“ Aiming to maintain its No. 1 position in the global
market, Canon is introducing power
f
ul new products
t
hat rede
fi
ne the picture-takin
g
experience. ”
C
AMERA
S
In 2008, t
h
e Company
h
e
ld
its No. 1
position for both digital SLR cameras
and compact digital cameras in the four
markets of North America, Europe,
Japan and China.
Canon increased unit sales and
expanded its market share
f
or di
g
ital
SLR cameras on the back o
f
continued
demand, and reinforced its lineu
p
s for
b
ot
h
l
ow-en
d
an
d
mi
d
-range mo
d
e
l
s.
In compact
d
igita
l
cameras, Canon
increased unit sales despite stagnant
market conditions. We worked to further
enhance the
f
unctions o
f
our compact
di
g
ital cameras, equippin
g
models
with the new DIGIC 4 ima
g
in
g
pro
-
cessor an
d
up
g
ra
d
in
g
our Face Detec-
tion Technolo
gy
. Sta
y
in
g
on top of
t
he worldwide shift to HD, Canon
i
n
t
r
oduced
f
u
ll HD
ca
m
co
r
de
r
s
to
t
h
e
market, winning high praise for their
i
mage quality and dual-fl ash memory
c
oncept that enables recording the
movie both to the internal memor
y
and a removable SDHC card.
Loo
k
in
g
a
h
ea
d
, we wi
ll
b
o
l
ster
product lineups for di
g
ital SLR and
c
ompact digital cameras, particularly for
mid-range models. Canon will offer
products that boast superior image
q
uality based on its core competencies
o
f
optical technology, sensor technology
and ima
g
in
g
processors while elevatin
g
t
he essential
f
actors in capturin
g
ima
g
es,
s
uch as ease o
f
use
,
miniaturization and
d
esi
g
n. From the be
g
innin
g
of 2009, we
w
i
ll
aggressive
l
y
l
aunc
h
attractive an
d
p
owerful products across every product
c
ategory, aiming to offer unprecedented
l
evels of customer satisfaction. Canon
w
ill rein
f
orce the in-house production o
f
k
e
y
components as a means o
f
o
ff
erin
g
h
i
g
h-value-added products that are
d
i
ff
erentiated
f
rom those o
f
its competi-
t
ors an
d,
at t
h
e same time
,
re-examine
i
ts systems for maintaining quality,
i
nc
l
u
d
ing t
h
e service support structure
f
or every category of user, from begin-
n
ers and advanced amateurs to profes
-
s
ionals. Furthermore, the Company will
c
ontinue e
ff
orts to promote cross-media
i
ma
g
in
g
to realize advanced s
y
ner
g
ies
b
etween input an
d
output pro
d
ucts
.
Innovative Pro
d
ucts an
d
Tec
h
no
l
og
y
—EOS 5D Mar
k
II Digita
l
SLR Camer
a
I
n 2008, Canon released the EOS 5D Mark II di
g
ital SLR camera.
Highly anticipated by customers, it
f
eatures a newly developed 21.1
-
m
e
g
apixel 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor that realizes less noise and
a si
g
nifi cantl
y
expanded sensitivit
y
ran
g
e. The camera incorporates
the DIGIC 4 imaging processor to enable the high-speed processing o
f
the increased data
g
enerated b
y
the hi
g
h-pixel-count ima
g
e sensor
.
The EOS 5D Mark II is the world’s fi rst di
g
ital SLR capable of
f
ull HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) video capture. The Company applied
its hi
g
hl
y
advanced ima
g
in
g
, photo
g
raph
y
and video capture tech
-
n
olo
g
ies to offer this function, si
g
nalin
g
a new direction in di
g
ital
S
LR cameras
.