Canon Inc. is a multinational corporation that is based out of Tokyo, Japan and specializes in imaging, optical, and industrial products. The company sells products including lenses, cameras, printers, and scanners and maintains a sales network that spans across more than 220 countries. Cannon Inc. generates approximately $33 billion in global revenue (Canon, n.d.). Between 2020 and 2021, the company saw an 11.17% increase in net income, generating $3,513,357.00M in sales in 2021 (Canon Inc., 2022). The company continues to grow and expand, providing quality products for consumers of all levels of technological expertise and need.
Comparative Advantage
The primary competitors facing Canon Inc. are Hewlett-Packard, Brother Industries, and Epson. Canon Inc. offers a range of advantages over its competitors, maintaining a large global sales and service network and offering a diverse range of manufacturing technologies. Canon Inc. has an advantage in operational capabilities and their operations cover more geographical territory than many of their competitors. They do, however, report weak financial performance affecting the company's overall growth and expansion plans. The competitive environment poses a major threat to Canon Inc. as the company has the lower hand when it comes to financial and marketing resources allowing them to reach wider audiences, maintain lower production costs, and generate higher sales (Canon Inc., n.d.). The company fails to hold any comparative advantage over its competitors, but remains a consistent company in the industry.
Supply and Demand
The primary products sold by Canon Inc. are printers, cameras, copiers, and scanners, as well as multi-functional office equipment. The industry as a whole receives a medium growth rating with demand being driven by technological advancements and a risk being present as relates to government contracts and regulations (Photographic & optical Equipment/Supplies manufacturing, 2022). As energy prices and technological advancements change, the demand for digital imaging equipment and mult-functional office equipment is projected to decline in the next 4 years. Major contributors to this are the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing demand for remote office situations not requiring such equipment, and the increased development of smartphones replacing the need for these products (Photographic & optical Equipment/Supplies manufacturing, 2022). Dependence on government spending and increased production costs has resulted in an decrease in supply as well (Photographic & optical Equipment/Supplies manufacturing, 2022).
GDP and Key Market
The home country for Canon Inc’s operations is Japan, which currently has a GDP of $4.94 trillion (GDP (current US$), n.d.). The company operates heavily in various other nations with some key locations being the US, Germany, and France The US GDP is $23 trillion, Germany’s is $4.22 trillion, and France’s is $2.94 trillion (GDP (current US$), n.d.).
Fluctuations in GDP, economic growth, investments, and patents
Fluctuations in GDP contribute to the business cycle in the sense that rising GDP typically correlates with rising sales while a decreasing GDP correlates with declining sales. The business cycle is driven primarily by fluctuations in consumer spending and business investment in the short term (Introduction to U.S. Economy, 2022). The trends seen in Canon Inc’s sales follow this trend closely experiencing increases and decreases as GDP and economic growth have fluctuated (Canon Revenue 2010-2022). The current state of the market has resulted in a decline in the value of Canon Inc as a company as they have experienced a 0.5% decrease in stock value (Investor Relations). Patents are considered assets and add value to a company. All of these contribute to the profitability of the company in the sense that fluctuations can either decrease or increase the overall value of the company.
References
Cameras. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.usa.canon.com/newsroom/2020/20201201-press
Canon Inc. (2022). (). Fort Mill: Mergent. Retrieved from Business Market Research Collection Retrieved from https://ezproxy.regent.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/reports/canon-inc/docview/1860776804/se-2
Canon Inc. (n.d.). https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.regent.edu/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=b252a8b4-f0a7-4498-807e-a78cc8da0250%40redis
Canon Revenue 2010-2022: CAJ. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CAJ/canon/revenue
GDP (current US$) - Japan. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=JP
Introduction to U.S. Economy: The Business Cycle and Growth (2022).
Congressional Research Service
Photographic & optical Equipment/Supplies manufacturing - quarterly update 5/9/2022. (2022). (). Fort Mill, South Carolina: Mergent. Retrieved from Business Market Research Collection Retrieved from https://ezproxy.regent.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/reports/photographic-amp-optical-equipment-supplies/docview/2661477198/se-2
Hi Morisco,
Excellent research and information regarding this project. I have an interesting piece of insight as my father has worked for Canon VA for over 20 years. I have seen his struggles in the ebbs and flows of economic demand. For example, the company has had to evolve their camera merchandise after smartphones were invented with the incredible and continuously developing camera technology. In addition, the printer business and demand for ink cartridges have gone down with the increase in computer databases and electronic communication. Therefore, I can understand the struggles in comparison to the data you presented. I look forward to reading more from you.