Due to their inability to develop a lens of their own, the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory used one from Nippon Kogaku Kogyo, the predecessor company of Nikon Corporation. Three years following the initial start up of the company, the Hansa Canon was released in 1936 to the public. The following year, Canon as we know it today was founded.

Nowadays, Canon makes cameras, printers, copiers and many other office products and their most profitable area involves the sale of digital copiers for offices. It's funny because most people think of their cameras before their office products, but numbers don't lie!

Besides its current financial strongholds, Canon is still venturing out into new avenues all the time. They are currently forging ahead into the digital display field and have since bought the shares Toshiba had in a joint venture for the manufacture of flat panel television screens.

Did You Know

- Canon makes and supplies the print engines used in many Hewlett-Packard products, specifically the LaserJet laser printers so often raved about.

- The company name, Canon, was chosen because it was so similar to the name in Japanese of their debut product, the Kwanon.

- Canon is currently working on rear-projection displays.

Even companies that have been around many years can still grow and change with the times. So far, Canon has been very successful at doing just that.