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| Type | Public (TYO: 7751, NYSE: CAJ) |
|---|---|
| Founded | Tokyo, Japan (10 August 1937) |
| Headquarters |  Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Fujio Mitarai, Chairman & CEO Tsuneji Uchida, President & COO |
| Industry | Imaging |
| Products | Print and document solutions, photographic equipment including printers, scanners and digital and SLR cameras. Binoculars, calculators and medical, optical, broadcast and IT imaging equipment. |
| Revenue | ▲ 4,481,346 million Yen (FY 2007) |
| Employees | 23,429 (2008)1 |
| Website | www.canon.com |
Canon Inc. (キヤノン株式会社 Kyanon Kabushiki Gaisha?, TYO: 7751, NYSE: CAJ) is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, photocopiers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located at 30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 146-8501, Japan.2
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History
‘Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory’ is the predecessor of Canon Inc. and was founded in Tokyo in 1937 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Toshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda.
1930s - 60s 1934: ‘The Kwanon’3, Japan’s first 35mm focal plane-shutter camera, was produced in prototype form. 1940: An indirect X-ray camera, also a first for Japan, is developed. 1947: The company is renamed Canon Camera Co., Inc. 1958: A field zoom lens for television broadcasting is introduced. 1959: The world’s first camcorder with a zoom lens, ‘Relfex Zoom 8’, is introduced. 1964: ‘Canola 130’, the world’s first 10-key calculator is introduced. 1969: The company’s name is changed to Canon Inc.
1970s – 00s 1971: The ‘Canon F-1’, a top-end SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera, and FD lenses are introduced. 1976: Canon launches the world’s first camera with an embedded micro-computer, the ‘AE-1’. 1985: The world’s first Ink Jet printer using Bubble Jet technology is introduced. 1987: The 'EOS 650' autofocus SLR camera is introduced and the Canon Foundation is established. 1988: Canon introduces 'Kyosei philosophy'. 1992: The ‘EOS-5’, the first-ever camera with eye-controlled autofocus is launched. 1995: The IXUS, a pocket-sized camera with the Advanced Photo System, is introduced. 1997: Canon enters the digital video camcorder market. 2002: Mr Fujio Mitarai, President and CEO of Canon Inc., is named one of the world’s top 25 managers by magazine BusinessWeek. 2003: The world’s first portable digital X-ray system is used to reconstruct the face of an Egyptian mummy believed to be Queen Nefertiti. 2004: The XEED SX50 LCD projector is introduced. 2005: Canon’s first high-definition video camcorder is introduced. 2007: Canon Europe’s 50th anniversary.
Today, the company produces digital compact and SLR cameras, printers and analog and digital copiers for the office, including its line of imageRUNNER and imagePRESS digital multifunctional devices.
Origins of company name
The name Canon began in 1934 with a prototype for Japan’s first-ever 35mm camera with a focal plane shutter. It was named 'Kwanon'4 by Goro Yoshida after the Buddhist goddess of mercy.
Products
Canon is a manufacturer of business and consumer imaging products which includes printers, scanners and binoculars, as well as a range of digital compact and SLR cameras.
The Business Solutions division offers print and document solutions for small and medium businesses, large corporations and governments. These include multifunctional printers, black and white and colour office printers, large format printers, scanners, black and white and colour production printers, handy terminals and microfilm scanners, as well as software to support these products.
Lesser known Canon products include medical, optical and broadcast products, including Ophthalmic and X-Ray devices, broadcast lenses and semiconductors. Handy Terminal Solutions, Digital Microfilm Scanners.
Company structure
Canon has regional headquarters in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Japan, Asia and Ocenia. Canon in Europe is split into Canon Europa NV (based in the Netherlands) and Canon Europe Ltd (based in London). Both make up the European headquarters for Canon.
Environmental activities
A report by the environmental organization Clean Air-Cool Planet puts Canon at the top of a list of 56 companies the survey conducted on climate-friendly companies.5
Canon has also launched three new calculators in Europe, called "Green Calculators", which are produced, in part, from recycled Canon copiers.6
The company has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy in Europe, named ‘Green is just a shade of blue’. The strategy places emphasis on green issues being ‘a small part of the bigger, bluer picture’, and therefore gives equal importance to other areas, including ethics, attitudes, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, education, science and social welfare.
The Canon Group has an environmental charter which looks at ‘offering products with a lower environmental burden through improvements in resource efficiency, while eliminating anti-social activities that threaten the health and safety of mankind and the environment.’7
In 2008 Canon donated financial support to help the estimated 5 million people displaced by the earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province in May 2008.8
1million RMB was donated to the Red Cross Society of China shortly after the earthquake. Canon Inc, Japan, soon followed with a donation of RMB10 million.8
Sponsorship
In Europe
Football
Canon in the UK was the first sponsor of the English Football League, with a deal from 1983 until 1986.
Canon Europe has supported football for nearly 30 years. It has been a sponsor and official imaging equipment supplier of the UEFA Champions League™ (1995-2000 and 2004-2006), the UEFA European Football Championship™ (1980-2000), the UEFA EURO 2004™ tournament (as official sponsor) and consecutive World Cup tournaments (1978-1998).9
The company also sponsors the UEFA Cup™ Final matches (from 2006/07 final up to the 2008/09 final) and UEFA Super Cup™ matches (from 2007 up to the August 2008 match). And most recently the UEFA EURO 2008™ football tournament.
Canon Europe was also Official Sponsor of the MTN Africa Cup of Nations 2008 in Ghana and the Russian Premier Football League.10
Fashion
Canon Europe is sponsor of Paris Fashion Week and principle sponsor of London and Milan Fashion Weeks.11
The Red Cross
Since 2006 Canon has been helping the Red Cross provide support to thirteen Red Cross National Societies across Europe, with focus on youth projects. Support from Canon includes financial contributions and donations of imaging equipment; including cameras, copying machines and digital radiography devices, as well as volunteer activities.12
WWF
Canon Europe has been a WWF Conservation Partner since 1998. The company provides funding to WWF's global conservation work to aid its environmental practices.
Since 2007, WWF and Canon have been working on a Polar Bear Tracking Programme and 'Canon Kids' Zone' children’s microsite. The WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracking Programme tracks the movements of polar bears in the Arctic through radio collars placed around the bears’ necks. Their positions are transmitted to scientists for investigation on how climate change is affecting them.13
The WWF-Canon Kids’ Zone is a microsite that teaches children across Europe about the environmental threats faced by the polar bear. It also helps them to understand how saving power at home and becoming more energy efficient can help save the polar bear from extinction.
World Press Photo
Canon Europe has been a partner of World Press Photo for sixteen years. World Press Photo promotes the professional standards in photography; organises the largest international contest for professional photojournalists and acts as a worldwide platform for press photography.14
Formula 1
Canon Europe was involved in sponsorship of Formula 1 from 1985-1993 and again from 2001 – 2004.
In USA
Canon USA has a number of sponsorships, including: PGA TOUR, LPGA TOUR, New York Yankees, United States Open Tennis Tournament, The American Junior Golf Association's Canon Cup, Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge Eisenhower Park Lakeside Theatre Summer Concert Series.15
In Oceania
Canon Australia sponsors the Canon Australian Professional Photography Awards (Canon APPA).16
See also
References
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This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2008) |
- ^ "Company Profile for Canon Inc (CAJ)". Retrieved on 2008-10-06.
- ^ Canon Inc headquarters.
- ^ Kwanon name.
- ^ Kwanon name
- ^ Reuters report
- ^ Think green: Canon launches recycled calculator range. Retrieved on 2 September 2008
- ^ Canon environmental charter.
- ^ a b Canon support of China earthquake
- ^ Football sponsorship
- ^ Africa Cup of Nations sponsorship.
- ^ Fashion sponsorship.
- ^ Red Cross sponsorship.
- ^ WWF sponsorship.
- ^ World Pres Photo sponsorship, World Press Photo sponsorship.
- ^ Canon USA sponsorships, Canon USA sponsorships.
- ^ Canon Australia sponsorships
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canon |
- Canon official site
- Canon's Online Camera Museum
- Canon Electronic Business Machines (H.K.) Co., Ltd.
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 January 2009, at 11:45.
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