By Gina Ferrara, Senior Analyst

I recently attended the 2019 Canon Media & Analyst event held February 11-13 at the Waterstone Resort and Marina in Boca Raton, Florida. Canon shared the latest news and provided an overview of the company’s success in 2018 and roadmap for 2019. Throughout the presentations, the following themes were evident:  Canon’s commitment to growth, reliability of products, focus on customer satisfaction and expansion of its partner network.

Sam Yoshida, EVP and General Manager for Canon’s BICG (Business Information Communications Group), who replaced the now retired Toyo Kuwamura, kicked off the event by sharing his optimism for the industry, stating he believes it is healthy and strong and his belief is echoed in the numbers. With net sales of $36 billion and net earnings of $2.3 billion, Canon has proven once again it is a market leader committed to continued growth. By adapting to market trends and customer needs, Canon has found new growth opportunities in the areas of cloud security, production print, digital transformation and in vertical markets such as education, healthcare, finance and insurance.

During his presentation, Mr. Yoshida also discussed the renaming of BISG (Business Imaging Solutions Group) to BICS (Business Information Communications Group). This new name best describes Canon’s focus of not being “in the business of selling printers” and appropriately echoes its mission to help customers better manage and share information, which has become their direction for 2019.

Peter Kowalczuk, President of Canon Solutions America (CSA), gave an overview of 2018 and plans for 2019.  CSA’s product line is the most extensive, ranging from small multi-function devices (MFD) up to the ProStream 1000 continuous feed color inkjet. Stability is key to CSA’s success and although print volumes are dropping, CSA has stepped up its services organization to support its customer base. In addition, he also stressed the importance of security—a big concern in the enterprise space. In 2017, the cost of a data breach in the US was $7.35 million. Since 1 out of 10 security breaches is paper-related, Mr. Kowalczuk stated that “data security without document security is incomplete.” CSA is expanding its 5 pillar security strategy in two distinct areas—device security and cybersecurity—in a variety of ways, including its partnership with Barracuda to provide security awareness training and concierge service for customers that do not have security expertise on staff. In addition, EventSentry helps increase endpoint protection and PrinterLogic provides “server-less printing,” the ability to print without the use of print servers.

Canon’s focus on growth and customer satisfaction was further illustrated by Francis McMahon, EVP for Production Print Services (PPS) when he shared that Canon grew in every single product category of PPS, including continuous feed toner, cut sheet black and white, continuous feed inkjet and professional services. In fact, a whopping 92 continuous feed inkjet systems were placed in 2018.  With 83 billion pages printed, 2018 also witnessed record page growth.

Although 97% of Canon customers surveyed would recommend CSA’s service, Canon will continue to strive for greater excellence. Based on the information provided during this event, I have no doubt they will achieve that goal and I look forward to what Canon will accomplish in 2019.