Canon targets market growth with new high-resolution projectors

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 03 June 2008: Canon today targets new market growth with the release of two XEED multimedia projectors – the XEED WUX10, capable of projecting Full HD video at an industry-leading WUXGA resolution, and the SXGA+ XEED SX80. The release of XEED WUX10 and XEED SX80 will be supported via a strategic series of promotional activities, plus an ongoing program designed to strengthen channel infrastructure.

High resolution: The Growing Phenomenon
The new products address a growing demand for high-resolution business projectors: an area in which Canon already holds a 33% market share across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Recent years have seen increased emphasis placed by business buyers on resolution. Increased native resolutions of monitors and laptops – with many models now operating at SXGA+ or above – have awakened users to the visual possibilities offered by higher resolution presentations. This has coincided with a mass movement towards widescreen formats, plus the rise of High Definition content in both computing and television.

Creating opportunities
Canon will activate market growth via investment in several key areas. Channel Partner relations will be improved with the future introduction of a partner program; in addition, Channel management will move towards greater collaborative planning linked to sales and marketing promotional activities.

“Market research has indicated that, for business projector buyers, there are two key decision drivers: image quality and resolution,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “Given their outstanding performance in these fields, we expect the XEED SX80 and XEED WUX10 to substantially increase the size of this market – increasing our own market share in the process.”

Answering Demand: Canon’s Unique Advantage
Both the XEED WUX10 and XEED SX80 offer resolutions suitable for specialist applications such as CAD, simulation and medical imaging. The XEED WUX10 projects at an industry-leading WUXGA resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels): as well as allowing projection from the latest high-resolution 16:10 aspect ratio PCs, it includes the ability to display stunning Full HD Video (1080p). The HD ready XEED SX80 features SXGA+ resolution (1400 x 1050 pixels), plus exceptional connectivity.

To ensure the same seamless image characteristics of all products in the XEED range, the XEED SX80 and XEED WUX10 combine the recently-launched Canon LCOS panels with Canon’s unique AISYS illumination system – plus new projection lenses that virtually eliminate distortion and blurring towards the edge of the image. The result is perfect image geometry and the sharpest image quality.

In the long term, Canon’s continued development of its own LCOS panels will lead to continued reduction in premiums – and increased demand – for WUXGA+ and SXGA+ products.