Canon 2008 Annual Report Download - page 24

22
Canon nurtures its technological strengths to ensure its future growth
wh
i
l
e
d
eve
l
oping an
d
intro
d
ucing new pro
d
ucts to mar
k
ets in a time
l
y manner.
R
&D Ex
p
enditure and Patent
s
Des
p
ite
h
ars
h
mar
k
et con
d
itions in 2008, Canon contin-
ued to allocate a signifi cant percentage of net sales
to R&D. R&D expenditure amounted to ¥374.0 billion,
and the ratio to net sales rose
f
rom 8.2
%
in
fi
scal
2007 to 9.1% in
fi
scal 2008. B
y
business se
g
ment,
¥123.5 billion, or 33.0% o
f
the total expenditure, was
a
ll
ocate
d
to Business Mac
h
ines
;
¥45.5
b
i
ll
ion
,
or
12.2%
,
to Cameras
;
¥50.8
b
i
ll
ion
,
or 13.6%
,
to
O
p
tica
l
an
d
Ot
h
er Pro
d
ucts; an
d
¥154.2
b
i
ll
ion, or
41.2%, to
b
asic R&D
.
Ca
n
o
n’
s
co
mmi
t
m
e
n
t
to
R
&
D h
as
a
l
so
co
n
t
ri
b-
uted to its leading position in intellectual property.
In 2008, Canon was granted 2,114* patents in the
United States, markin
g
the 17th consecutive
y
ear it
has placed amon
g
the top three.
Co
g
nizant t
h
at R&D is crucia
l
to t
h
e next sta
g
e
of
g
rowth, Canon will continue to place hi
g
h
priorit
y
on R&D expen
d
iture
.
Strengthening Our R&D In
f
rastructur
e
In January 2009, Canon improved its R&D manage
-
ment system by consolidating several research divisions
into one headquarters to enhance e
ffi
cienc
y
and speed.
We are also stren
g
thenin
g
cooperation between product
operations an
d
R&D
d
ivisions w
h
i
l
e
b
o
l
sterin
g
strate
g
ic
investments and collaborative
p
artnershi
p
s in an effort
to further enhance technolo
gy
development capabilities
.
Bo
l
stering Pro
d
uct Competitiveness
Canon continuousl
y
stren
g
thens the development
o
f
its ke
y
components and devices to di
ff
erentiate
its products and
f
urther stren
g
then product com
-
p
etitiveness. In 2008, Canon re
l
ease
d
t
h
e DIGIC 4
imaging processor, which boasts even faster pro
-
cessing power for digital cameras and improved
noise reduction. Another highlight of the year
was the Company’s development of Liquid Crystal
on Silicon (LCOS) re
fl
ective LCD panels, ideal
f
or
LCD pro
j
ectors, which pro
j
ect hi
g
h-resolution
ima
g
es
f
ree o
f
lattice-like
g
rid patterns. Canon has
developed in-house all o
f
the main parts
f
or its
LCD pro
j
ectors
.
Canon is promoting cross-me
d
ia imaging t
h
at
ena
bl
es a
d
vance
d
synergies among input
d
evices
l
i
k
e
cameras or camcorders and out
p
ut devices like dis
-
plays or printers. The achievement of such outstanding
product collaboration is attributable to Canon’s long
experience in developin
g
leadin
g
-ed
g
e di
g
ital plat
f
orm
technolo
g
ies shared across the Compan
y
, such as the
h
i
gh
-accurac
y
co
l
or mana
g
ement s
y
stem K
y
uanos,
s
y
stem inte
g
ration an
d
te
l
ecommunication tec
h
no
l
o-
gies. Canon wi
ll
continue to en
h
ance t
h
ese
d
igita
l
platform technologies as well as individual products to
lead the digital imaging world
.
R
aising Development E
ffi
cienc
y
To speed up product development and reduce costs,
Canon is constantl
y
workin
g
to improve the e
ffi
cienc
y
DIGIC 4 imaging processor o
ff
ers exceptionally
f
ast signal
p
rocessin
g
for Canon’s di
g
ital cameras.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Ca
n
o
n
ut
iliz
es
3D-CAD
f
or the
d
evelo
p
ment of
offi
ce network MFDs
.
*
Source:
U
.
S
. P
ate
n
t
a
n
d
Tr
ade
m
a
r
k
O
ffi
ce
;
Calculated based
u
pon publicl
y
disclosed
w
eekly totals
.