Canon Creates New Industry Category with First Copier-Based Color Laser Multifunction Device below $1,000.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. -- The Color imageCLASS MF8170c Stands Alone in New Category Canon Has Created for Affordable Everyday Color Laser Printing and Copying for Small and Home Office Users

Canon U.S.A., Inc., the nation's market share brand leader in black-and-white and color laser copier/printer solutions(1), today blazes a new trail in the copier/printer industry with the launch of the first copier-based color laser multifunction device priced under $1,000. At a time when competing copier-based color laser MFPs typically cost a minimum of several thousand dollars, the new Color imageCLASS(R) MF8170c offers all of the multifunction features that many small office/home office (SOHO) users want - color laser printing and copying, scanning, faxing and network sharing - but until now may not have been able to afford.

"The introduction of the MF8170c is a pivotal event - as the copier/printer category has needed a color laser MFP in this price range for some time," said Jake Wang, a senior analyst with Current Analysis. "Now, for the first time, small to medium businesses have an alternative to inkjet, which can be expensive for soft costs (consumables), and workgroup MFPs, which have extremely high asset costs that require significant print volumes in order to achieve positive ROI."

"The introduction of the Color imageCLASS MF8170c underscores Canon's industry leadership in identifying and supporting converging customer markets," said Yusuke Mizoguchi, assistant director, SOHO Workgroup Systems, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A "Businesses are beginning to appreciate the significant value that color adds to the materials they share with customers, partners and prospects. The Color imageCLASS MF8170c, with its unmatched low price and high-quality design, allows SOHO users the ability to print laser quality color documents, as well as copy, scan and fax - all from a single, affordable desktop device."

The MF8170c handles laser printing and copying of letter-size documents at up to 16 pages-per-minute (ppm) for black and white and 4 ppm for color. To facilitate workflow, the MF8170c includes a 250-sheet front-loading paper cassette, as well as a 125-sheet multipurpose tray for a total 375-sheet capacity. The device's 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) accommodates multi-page originals up to 8.5 inches x 14 inches (legal) to allow for flexible copying, faxing, and color scanning.

For the added benefit of fax capability, the MF8170c incorporates a 33.6 Kbps/Super G3 fax(2). A `strong list of fax features includes 19 one-touch speed dial numbers, 100 coded speed dial numbers and a 256-page memory capacity. Able to scan in color up to 48-bit depth at 1200 x 2400 dpi optical resolution (48-bit internal/24-bit output), the new Color imageCLASS MF8170c achieves remarkable tone-on-tone reproduction faithful to the original scanned document. The MF8170c also comes standard with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed(3) and internal, Ethernet (10/100 Base T) interface, enabling shared printing and PC fax capabilities.

The unit comes equipped with the Canon driver software for Windows(R), ScanSoft(R), Omni Page SE (OCR) and NewSoft(R) Presto! PageManager(R). The devices will begin shipping to retailers in October 2004 with a one-year warranty that includes on-site service.

The Color imageCLASS MF8170c meets the ENERGY STAR(R) guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy. The EPA established the International ENERGY STAR Program in 1992 to help prevent global warming by promoting the development and use of energy-efficient products.

Canon U.S.A. has won the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Product Manufacturers Award the past three years in a row (2001, 2002 and 2003). Over 350 Canon products have been qualified under the ENERGY STAR Program, more than any other business machine manufacturer.

About Canon U.S.A.

Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America, and is ranked #35 on the Business Week list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent-holder of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2003, with global revenues of $29.9 billion. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.

(1) Source - Gartner Dataquest - "Printer Quarterly Statistics United States - Database," Camille Iorns February 2004.

(2) The Public Switched Telephone Network currently supports fax modem speeds of 28.8 Kbps or lower, depending on telephone line conditions. Sending and receiving fax machines need to conform to ITU-T V.34 guidelines.

(3) USB 2.0 Hi-Speed performance requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 with pre-installed USB 2.0 port.