Canon 2008 Annual Report Download - page 28

26
Canon continues to
b
o
l
ster its sa
l
es an
d
mar
k
eting activities in emerging economies
a
s it wor
k
s towar
d
ear
l
y mar
k
et
d
ominance
.
T
he
Am
e
ri
cas
Canon U.S.A., Inc. is the Company’s regional market
-
ing headquarters in North, Central and South America.
As a whole
,
sales in the Americas amounted to
¥1
,
154.6 billion in
fi
scal 2008
,
down 13.6%
f
rom
the previous
y
ear. This represented 28.2% o
f
Canon’s conso
l
i
d
ate
d
net sa
l
es.
B
y
re
g
ion, Nort
h
America was
h
it
h
ar
d
by
t
h
e
fi nancial crisis, resulting in a decrease in sales
compared with the previous fi scal year. In Latin
America, however, although the effects of the
economic recession were felt from autumn, full-
year sales were up year on year.
In the United States
,
we consolidated three
re
g
ional business solutions companies into the new
Canon Business So
l
utions
,
Inc. an
d
continue
d
to
bolste
r
ou
r
d
ir
ect
sales
a
n
d
se
rvi
ce
n
et
w
o
r
k
. In
the
POD market, we more than doubled sales of the
imagePRESS C6000 an
d
C7000VP series.
In Latin America, sales rose and Canon continued
to reinforce its sales and marketing infrastructure to
keep pace with regional growth, particularly
f
or sales
and marketin
g
subsidiaries in Ar
g
entina, Brazil and
Chile, while takin
g
into account currenc
y
fl
uctuations
an
d
ris
k
mana
g
ement in eac
h
countr
y
.
Lookin
g
forward, we will intensif
y
sales
promotions t
h
at cut across Company
d
ivisions an
d
,
tar
g
etin
g
a wide variet
y
o
f
markets, enhance sales
activities t
h
at
h
i
ghl
i
gh
t Canon’s stren
g
t
h
s in tota
l
ima
g
in
g
so
l
utions t
h
at emp
l
o
y
b
ot
h
input an
d
out
p
ut
p
ro
d
ucts.
Europ
e
In Januar
y
2009, Canon Europa N.V., in the Nether
-
lands, the operational headquarters
f
or the Europe,
Middle East and A
f
rica re
g
ion, be
g
an the process
of transferrin
g
a number of strate
g
ic roles to
Canon Europe Lt
d
. in t
h
e Unite
d
Kin
gd
om.
Sales in Europe fell 10.5% year on year to
¥1,341.4 billion, representing 32.8% of Canon’s
consolidated net sales.
Economic conditions in Europe rapidly deceler-
ated as a result o
f
such
f
actors as
fi
nancial instabil-
it
y
tri
gg
ered b
y
the subprime loan crisis and sta
g
-
nant consumer spen
d
in
g
in response to risin
g
prices. B
y
re
g
ion,
y
ear-on-
y
ear sa
l
es were
d
own in
most countries of Western Europe, including the
Unite
d
King
d
om, Germany an
d
France. In Russia,
although sales were strong in the fi rst half of the
fi scal year, declining sales particularly in the fourth
quarter resulted in an overall drop in sales year on
y
ear. On the other hand, sales in the Middle East
increased compared with the previous
fi
scal
y
ear.
In 2008
,
we esta
bl
is
h
e
d
Canon Eurasia A.S. in
Tur
k
e
y
to access t
h
e Tur
k
is
h
an
d
Israe
l
i mar
k
ets an
d
b
egan setting up a new
l
oca
ll
y
b
ase
d
management
organization in Russia to support
b
usiness
SALES & MARKETING
Ca
n
o
n
Co
mm
u
ni
ca
-
tion Space S
h
ang
h
ai
w
as
estab
li
s
h
ed
to
sh
ow t
h
e
l
atest
p
roducts and
p
ro
-
mote
f
ace-to-
f
ace
co
mm
u
ni
cat
i
o
n wi
t
h
c
ustomers in C
h
ina.
Canon U.S.A. is au
g
mentin
g
its marketin
g
network b
y
f
urther bolstering its direct sales capabilities.