Canon Marketing (Malaysia) expects its revenues to grow by as much as 10% or even more in Malaysia in 2009 compared to last year, despite the global recession, its president and chief executive officer Liew Sip Chon said at a Yee Sang Chinese New Year media lunch in Petaling Jaya on 21 January.

Liew expects Canon’s growth in the emerging markets of China, India and Indonesia to be even higher, while the company expects its revenues the mature markets of Europe and the United States to be lower.

“Our three main product lines are cameras, printers and copiers but our highest growth area will be our Canonfoto online service,” said Liew.

Users must first download the free Canonfoto application from www.canonfoto.com.my and install it on their PC.

After that, they pick a theme and a layout, then select their relevant digital photos to add to it, caption them and submit the compilation either online or on CD to the Canonfoto server, where it will be encrypted and accessible only to authorised Canon partners who will download and print them on a Canon imagePRESS C7000VP offset printer.

Alternatively, customers can take their compilations to be printed at the current 70 authorised photo kiosks across the country.

The albums are available in a choice of four sizes – namely, 8 x 8in, 8.5 x 11in (A4 landscape), 11 x 8.5in (A4 portrait) and 12 x 12in and they can print albums of 20 to 100 pages, with prices starting from RM79 and thy will received the album by dispatch within seven to 10 days.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Canon began life in 1933 as Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory.

The following year it produced a prototype of its Kwanon camera, Japan’s first 35mm focal-plane-shutter camera. Kwanon is the Japanese name for the Goddess of Mercy, whom the Chinese call Kuan Ying.

In 1935 the company filed for registration of the “Canon” trademark, to have a more international flavour and it launched the Hansa Canon, a 35m focal-plane-shutter camera.

Today, besides cameras, scanners and business machines, Canon’s optical and other professional and industrial products include semiconductor production equipment, mirror projection mask aligners for LCDs, broadcast-use television lenses, medical image recording equipment, large-format inkjet printers and vacuum equipment for electronic components.