Canon: We’re Lagging in Innovation

Canon has admitted that it’s lagging behind other companies in innovation, and it’s resolving to do better in the area.

In a new interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, Canon Chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai spoke about how Canon needs to start looking into the future if it hopes to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving world of technology.

When asked what he believes to be the biggest issue currently facing Canon, Mitarai pointed at the relative lack of cutting-edge tech.

“Our primary management goal this year is to raise our antennas high toward cutting-edge technology,” Mitarai tells Nikkei. “It is on this point where we lag behind other companies.”

Mitarai says it’s crucial that Canon becomes better at reading “the trends of an era.”

To read the trends of an era. Innovation is steadily advancing, and it has become difficult to put out products that are ahead of the competition, even if by just a little. This is now an era when latecomer manufacturers stand to gain. Compared with the past, even I feel mounting tensions.

To stay on top of and not lose against generational innovations[…]

The 82-year-old CEO also believes that it’s time for Canon to “think outside the camera box.” He’s looking for growth outside photography and wants new non-camera businesses to generate 30% of sales while cameras generate 30% and office equipment contribute 40%.

(via Nikkei via Canon Rumors)