Canon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 25

23
Fiscal 2004 Review
Demand for network digital MFDs
indicated a shift from monochrome
to color models, as well as a trend
toward higher-end features.
The Color imageRUNNER
C3200/iR C3200N, which offers
intelligent color sending to multi-
ple destinations and combines
scanning, printing, copying, and
distributing functions working
together concurrently, continued
to sell well in markets all around the world, thus sustaining
the momentum from 2003, when these models were
launched. The iR C3100 and the high-end model
iR C6800, introduced in Japan in 2003, were also launched
in Europe and the United States in the first half of 2004 and
have been well received in these markets. The iR C3220/iR
C3220N, which succeeds the iR C3200, was launched
in autumn 2004 and has similarly been well received.
In the United States, to counter mounting competition in
the steadily expanding color equipment market, we simulta-
neously launched 14 new models,
including color and monochrome
machines, in October 2004.
In the monochrome equipment
market, where prices have finally
stopped falling, we provided models
with enhanced functionality, lower
energy consumption, and smaller footprints. In addition to
extending the Multifunctional Embedded Application
Platform (MEAP), enabling customers to develop unique
functions on the imageRUNNER platform, we launched new
MEAP machines with output capabilities of between 72 to
105 pages per minute in the promising high-speed machine
segment in November 2004. Supplies, including toner
and drums, posted steady growth.
Overall, sales of office imaging products in 2004 saw
a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, to ¥1,121 billion
(US$10,779 million).
861,594
980,053
1,023,131
1,081,995
1,120,972
Sales Results:
Office Imaging Products
(Millions of yen)
00 01 02 03 04
0
1,150,000
Our Future Growth Engine:
High-Compression PDF Conversion Technology
Full-color document data typically contain 30 to 40 times
more digital information than monochrome data. Files
become extremely large when users employ JPEG and other
conventional compression methods to store or transmit files
in their original, high-resolution condition. This creates
problems because it takes considerable time to send them
over a network and places a heavy burden on servers.
Canon’s high-compression PDF conversion technology
makes it possible to compress image files to a fraction of the
size that would normally be required. For example, using
JPEG compression, scanning an A4-size color document
filled with text and photos at 150-dpi resolution would
create a file of about 2 MB in
size. However, using Canon’s
groundbreaking technology,
the file is compressed to about
one-tenth this size without
deterioration in image quality.
The secret is that Canon’s technol-
ogy can successfully separate the text from the background
and compress them separately. Using this technology, photo-
graphs remain clear and alphanumeric characters are repro-
duced crisply. Therefore, this technology maintains high
image quality even as it significantly reduces the volume of
data. This breakthrough is differentiating Canon’s network
MFDs from those of competitors.
High-compression PDF
imageRUNNER C3220
imageRUNNER C6800N