Canon 2008 Annual Report Download - page 59

57
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, PATENTS
AND LICENSES
Canon is in the third
y
ear o
f
the Excellent Global Corporation
Plan, its 5-year (2006-2010) management plan. The slogan of
the third
p
hase
(
“Phase III”
)
is “Innovation & Sound Growth”
and there are
f
our core strate
g
ies:
• Realize an overwhelmin
g
No.1 position worldwide in all
current core
b
usinesses
;
• Expand operations through diversifi cation
;
• Identify new business domains and accumulate necessary
technolo
g
ical capabilities; an
d
• Esta
bl
is
h
new pro
d
uction s
y
stem to sustain
gl
o
b
a
l
com
p
et
i
t
i
veness
.
Canon is striving to implement the three R&D related strategies
as
f
ollows
:
• Realize an overwhelmin
g
No.1 position worldwide in all
current core businesses: Pursue develo
p
ment of new
pro
d
ucts w
h
ic
h
ena
bl
e “cross-me
d
ia imaging”
b
y sop
h
isti
-
cated functional synergy among the variety of Canon’s
ima
g
e handlin
g
products, bene
fi
tin
g
f
rom the proli
f
eration
of
b
r
oad
ba
n
d
co
mm
u
ni
cat
i
o
n
e
nvir
o
nm
e
n
t.
• Expand operations through diversifi cation: Focus on
developing various types of display, including Surface
-
conduction Electron-emitter Displa
y
(
“SED”
)
and Or
g
anic
Li
g
ht-Emittin
g
Diode displa
y
s (“OLED”)
.
• Identif
y
new business domains and accumulate necessar
y
tec
h
no
l
ogica
l
capa
b
i
l
ities: Accumu
l
ate tec
h
no
l
ogica
l
capability in each of the medical imaging sector, intelligent
robot industr
y
and sa
f
et
y
technolo
gy
domain
.
Canon is
d
eve
l
opin
g
an
d
stren
g
t
h
enin
g
re
l
ations
h
ips wit
h
universities an
d
ot
h
er researc
h
institutes, suc
h
as Kyoto University,
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the New
Ener
gy
and Industrial Technolo
gy
Development Or
g
anization
and the National Institute o
f
Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology, to assist with fundamental research and to develop
cutting-edge technologies
.
Canon has
f
ully introduced 3D-CAD systems across the
Canon
g
roup, boostin
g
R&D e
ffi
cienc
y
to curtail product
d
eve
l
o
p
ment times an
d
costs. Moreover, Canon en
h
ance
d
an
d
evo
l
ve
d
its simu
l
ation, measurement, an
d
ana
l
ysis tec
h
no
l
ogies
by establishing leading-edge facilities, including one of Japan’s
hi
g
hest-per
f
ormance cluster computers. As such, Canon has
succeeded in
f
urther reducin
g
the need
f
or protot
y
pes,
d
ramatica
ll
y
l
owering costs an
d
s
h
ortening pro
d
uct
d
eve
l
opment
l
ead
t
im
es.
Canon has R&D centers worldwide. Each R&D center is
collaboratin
g
with other centers to achieve s
y
ner
g
ies, and is
cultivatin
g
closer ties in fi elds ran
g
in
g
from basic research to
p
ro
d
uct
d
eve
l
o
p
ment
.
Canon’s consolidated R&D expenditures were ¥374,025
million
(
U.S.
$
4,110 million
)
in fi scal 2008, ¥368,261 million in
fi
scal 2007 and ¥308
,
307 million in
fi
scal 2006. The ratios o
f
R&D ex
p
enditures to the consolidated total net sales for fi scal
2008, 2007 and 2006 were 9.1%, 8.2% and 7.4%, respectively
.
Canon believes that new products protected by patents
will not easil
y
allow competitors to compete with it, and will
g
ive it an a
d
vanta
g
e in esta
bl
is
h
in
g
stan
d
ar
d
s in t
h
e mar
k
et an
d
in
d
ustry. Accor
d
ing to t
h
e Unite
d
States patent annua
l
l
ist, w
h
ic
h
IFI
C
LAIM
S
®
Patent Services released, Canon obtained the third
g
reatest number o
f
private sector patents in 2008. This achieve
-
ment marks Canon’s seventeenth consecutive
y
ear as one o
f
the
top t
h
ree patent-receiving private-sector organizations
.
MARKET RISK EXPOSURE
Canon is exposed to market risks, includin
g
chan
g
es in
f
orei
g
n
currenc
y
exchan
g
e rates, interest rates and prices of marketable
securities and investments. In order to hedge the risks of changes
in foreign currency exchange rates, Canon uses derivative
fi
nancial instruments
.
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
04 05 06 07 08
R&D Expenditure
(Millions of yen)
374,025
275,300
286,476 308,307
368,261