Canon Inc.

Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational company headquartered in Tokyo, one of the world's largest makers of cameras, imaging equipment and office products. It was founded in 1937 as Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory by a small group of Japanese engineers seeking to build cameras that could compete with German imports, and it adopted the Canon name, drawn from the Buddhist deity Kwanon, for its early camera models before applying it to the whole company. Canon became one of the dominant makers of consumer and professional cameras and lenses over the twentieth century, and it also built a large business manufacturing printers, copiers, scanners and other office imaging equipment. The company remains a leading global supplier of both consumer imaging products and business office technology.