Everyone knows Canon as one of the best and most competitive professional camera brands, but the company’s production does not stop there, it is responsible for the manufacture of several other technological products, such as camcorders, photocopiers, scanners, printers, computers and even medical equipment, although desired by many, few know the origin and history of the brand , so learn all about Canon’s track record here on the Emania blog.
Canon’s story begins in 1933 with the opening of the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, created by young Goro Yoshida and Saburo Ushida who, passionate about photography, decided to open a camera manufacturing and maintenance company. At the time, Japan was not yet the technology hub it is today, so Yoshida and Ushida succeeded with the lab, because they manufactured high-quality equipment, with lower prices than imported cameras available on the market at the time. cameras was Japan’s first 35mm camera, with flat focus. His name was “Kwanon”. The name was inspired by the goddess of buddhism mercy, Kuan Yin, in the manufacture of this chamber played a fundamental role one of the employees of the Optical Precision Instruments Laboratory, his name being Takeshi Mitari, who became the first president of Canon.
- The Canon we know today was founded four years after the founding of the laboratory in 1937.
- But the name?Canon? It was registered as a trademark a few years earlier.
- On June 26.
- 1935.
- The company name was chosen from Kwanon.
- The first Canon camera manufactured by the Laboratory.
- To have the same sound and word meaning “precision”.
- Which would be the purpose of the products and due to the tireless search for the high-tech standard.
- The head of the new company was Takeshi Mitarai.
- Who convinced some employees of the Precision Instruments Laboratory to professionalize the service they offered.
In 1940, Canon took the lead and pioneered the creation of X-ray cameras, being the first Japanese company to manufacture the equipment. Continuing the pioneering line, this time in 1941, Canon launched the first 8mm Japanese cinema camera, the Canon Cine 8T This equipment was equipped with state-of-the-art technology and was not comparable, making the Japanese company a leader in the million-dollar film industry.
In the following decade, as early as 1958, Canon regained leadership with the first goal of variable focus, this time not only from Japan, but from around the world. It was in the 1950s that Canon also decided to launch the line of office equipment with the launch of copycats and accessories for typewriters. He was also responsible for the first ten-key calculator, electronic fax machine and first plain paper photocopier, all released in the 1960s. With the advancement of technology in the 1980s, the company also launched laser printers and bubble-throwing.
With the launch of the Canon EOS D30 camera in 2000, it reached the level of the best professional camera brand, still competing for the position with its competitor Nikon. It was at this time that DSLR cameras became popular with professional and amateur photographers. It was there that Canon began developing cutting-edge technologies in this sector, such as patented CMOS sensors and the DIGIC high-performance digital imaging processor.
To support high camera production, it has also developed a wide range of EF lenses, responding to the concepts of high speed, ease and high image quality. With the advent of the Internet, the presence of the brand in several countries and the digital world, Canon launched a new campaign in 2006 with the slogan “Image Anywhere”, or “Image Anywhere”, to symbolize that the world (and brand) was free of frontiers of images, devices, information and quality. Canon then states that it is possible to work with branded teams wherever and however you want. In 2011, Canon published a statistic that no other company of its kind had produced: the brand had produced 50 million EOS cameras and 70 million EF targets.
Ten years after its consolidation in Japan, Canon was ready to conquer the world. The first branch in the United States was opened in 1955 and marked an important milestone in the internationalization of the company. technological country in the world. Released was the desire of any company in the sector. The European branch opened two years later, in 1957. At that time, Canon was present in the main regions of the world and with only 20 years of existence, it was already considered one of the largest brands of photographic equipment in the world. Today, in addition to manufacturing traditional products such as photo, video, fax, photocopiers, scanners, printers and medical equipment, it markets these products in more than 200 countries, with a total of 199,000 jobs. Revenues are approximately US$50 billion.
Canon has been present in Brazil since 1974 and has since been active in the supply and trade of imaging equipment and technologies. Currently, in Brazil, he is one of the leaders in the distribution of printing equipment and specializes in technological service to companies. Canon is also on the list of the largest companies in the country responsible for marketing consumer ranges, such as cameras, camcorders and printers for personal use.