Canon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 26

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24
In the inkjet printer business, Canon is seeking to
achieve balanced growth throughout the “triangle”
constituting operating cash flow, profits, and market
share. Canon is continuing to sustain profitability in
this consumer product business even under highly
competitive conditions by building on the power
of its brand and its technological capabilities
for product development and production.
Canon is one of the few companies in the world boasting
world-class technologies for both cameras and photo-
quality color printers. Leveraging this outstanding
competitive technological advantage in cameras and its
strong brand name, Canon aims to be No. 1 in the home
printing market. Today’s market is moving toward digital
photos, and customers need photographic quality prints
for a wide range of applications. Canon is therefore
exceptionally well positioned to take advantage of
emerging business opportunities.
In managing its activities, the inkjet printer business
draws a triangle with profits as the base and operating
cash flow and market share forming the other two sides.
The business generates profits, which are indispensable
for expanding and renewing its activities, and seeks to
maintain high growth. The biggest difference between
Canon and its competitors is its drive to manufacture
its products internally. By leveraging its in-house
production capabilities, Canon aims to improve its
cost-competitiveness and further strengthen its systems
to generate profits.
In 2004, primarily as a result of the introduction in the
latter half of the year of the
PIXMA brand (PIXUS brand in
Japan), unit sales expanded
nearly 20% from the previ-
ous year. As a result, Canon
showed excellent performance
for the year,
returning to the No. 1 position
in the
Japanese market for the first time in eight years.
These inkjet printers incorporate Canon’s original FINE
technology, which that gives them the strengths that
Canon printers have become known for, namely photo-
quality imaging together with high printing speed.
Reflecting these strengths, the number of machines
installed in the field is growing,
and this promises to lead to
increases in the consumption of
printing supplies.
In the field of supplies, we also
introduced a new technology in Japan. This technology
offers photographic prints with greatly enhanced durability
through the use of genuine Canon paper and ink. Our
new products in Japan, which include our new print head
and original Canon ink and paper, is capable of printing
images that can be preserved in an album for 100 years
without fading. We plan to introduce this technology to
the global market and leverage our technology in printing
supplies to expand sales.
In the field of flatbed scanners, in 2005, we introduced
a new, advanced design that can scan from either a verti-
cal or horizontal orientation. Going forward, Canon will
draw on its original FARE (Film Automatic Retouching
and Enhancement) and LiDE (LED Indirect Exposure)
technologies to offer scanners that meet the growing
need for high-resolution, high-speed processing.
Katsuichi Shimizu
Chief Executive
Inkjet Products Operations
MP-780
PIXMA iP8600
CANON PRODUCT GROUPS
COMPUTER PERIPHERALS