Swot Analysis on Canon

CANON INC. is a Japan-based manufacturing company. The Company operates in three business segments. The Office segment provides office network, color network and personal multifunction devices, office, color and personal copy machines, laser printers, large-sized ink-jet printers and digital production printers, among others. The Consumer segment provides digital single-lens reflex cameras, compact digital cameras, interchangeable lens, digital video cameras, ink-jet multifunction devices, single-function ink-jet printers, image scanners, television lens for broadcasting use, among others. The Industrial Equipment and Others segment provides exposure equipment used in semiconductor and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), medical image recording equipment, ophthalmic instruments, magnetic heads, micro motors, computers, handy terminals, document scanners, among others.

Products

Canon manufactures consumer imaging products including printers, scanners, binoculars, compact digital cameras, film SLR[->0] and digital SLR[->1] cameras, lenses and video camcorders. The Business Solutions division offers print and document solutions for small and medium businesses, large corporations and governments. These include multi-functional printers, black and white and color office printers, large format printers, scanners, black and white and color production printers, as well as software to support these products.

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Lesser known Canon products include medical, optical and broadcast products, including ophthalmic and x-ray devices, broadcast lenses, semiconductors, digital microfilm scanners, and handy terminals. Digital cameras

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[->4][->5]A Canon EOS 50D[->6] camera

Canon has been manufacturing and distributing digital cameras since 1984, starting with the RC-701. The RC series was followed by the PowerShot and Digital IXUS series of digital cameras.

Canon also developed the EOS series of digital single-lens reflex cameras[->7] (DSLR) which includes high-end professional models. See main articles:

Canon PowerShot[->8]
Canon PowerShot G series[->9]
Canon Digital IXUS[->10]
Canon EOS[->11]
Canon EF lens mount[->12] (includes list of EF lenses)

Canon EF-S lens mount[->13], a subset of the EF mount specifically for DSLRs with APS-C sensors (includes list of EF-S lenses) Canon has recently introduced Thermal Transition Copying as a part of the manufacturing process for all of its cameras. This process allows a camera's polymer casing to very slightly change temperature through an exothermic reaction triggered by electronic sensors, to assist in the prevention of condensation inside the camera; a common problem experienced when using an SLR[->14] camera in certain conditions.

Digital copiers

Canon's largest division in terms of revenue is its multifunction copier division. Many of the sweeping changes during the "Digital Revolution" in the industry were invented by Canon. This has enabled Canon to hold the highest market share in the industry for 26 of the last 27 years. Canon distributes its consumer and home office imageCLASS line though retail outlets and professional grade imageRUNNER series through subsidiary Canon Business Solutions and independent distributors. The professional grade series ranges from small table tops to large digital presses.

Printers

For many years, Canon were the principal makers of the print-engines found in industry-standard laser printers. The first models of Apple LaserWriter, and the equivalent products made by HP, used the Canon LBP-CX engine. The next models (LaserWriter II series, LaserJet II series) used the Canon LBP-SX engine. Later models used the Canon LBP-LX, LBP-EX, LBP-PX engines and many other Canon print engines. Canon laser printers use cartridges. Between printer models based on the same Canon print engine, some mechanical parts (such as fuser units and roller assemblies) are interchangeable. However, Apple and HP each redesigned their printers to accept manufacturer-specific toner cartridges, requiring consumers to purchase toner cartridges by brand name. An HP cartridge will not fit a Canon printer, or vice verse.

Canon Speedlite

Canon has also produced high-output flash units for their DSLR cameras. They have a wide variety of flash units available including the 270EX, 320EX, 430EX Speedlites and their bigger brother the Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite. Canon also produces macro flash units including the Macro Twin Lite and the Macro Ring Lite. Canon’s flash units are known for their excellent workmanship and durability.

Scanners

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[->17][->18]A Canon CanoScan 9950F scanner
Canon has manufactured high-quality scanners for use with home computers for many years; they also make flatbed scanners[->19], film scanners[->20], and document scanners[->21]. The Canon Canoscan 8800F is, as of 2009, one of the most popular devices for scanning photographs and transparencies.[citation needed[->22]]

Computers

Canon introduced two MSX home computer[->23] models in 1983, the V-10 and the V-20[->24]. Both offered just the minimum range of the MSX standards without any additional features. The V-20 was able to receive photos from the T90 Canon camera with the Data Memory Back T90 expansion.

Camcorders

Operations
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[->27][->28]Canon's world headquarters in Tokyo

Canon's world headquarters are located at 30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 146-8501, Japan. Canon has regional headquarters in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Japan, Asia and Oceania (including Australia & New Zealand). 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. Canon is organised into three principal business segments: the Office Business Unit (the products of which include copying machines, digital production printers, large format inkjet printers, laser printers, and multi-function devices); the Consumer Business Unit (the products of which include broadcasting equipment, calculators, compact digital cameras, digital SLR cameras, digital video camcorders, image scanners, interchangeable lenses, inkjet multifunction printers, and single function inkjet printers); and the Industry and Others Business Unit (the products of which include computers, handy terminals, LCD lithography equipment, magnetic heads, medical imaging equipment, micromotors, ophthalmic equipment, and semiconductor lithography equipment).

Canon generated total revenues of US$45,608 million in 2011, of which 53.9% was by the Office Business Unit, 36.9% by the Consumer Business Unit and 11.8% by the Industry and Others Business Unit.In the same year, 31.3% of revenues were generated in Europe, 27.0% in the Americas, 22.2% in Asia and Oceania (ex. Japan) and 19.5% in Japan. Canon invested a total of US$3,946 million in research and development in 2011, equivalent to 8.7% of sales. In 2011, Canon was granted 2,813 patents in the United States, the third-highest number of any company (after IBM[->29] and Samsung Electronics[->30]