Canon Inc. Reports Results for Third Quarter 2004.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) and a leader in imaging technologies, today announced Canon Inc. third quarter 2004 consolidated net sales of 838.3 billion yen (US$ 7,552 million), which represents an increase of 9.2% over the third quarter of fiscal year 2003.

Canon reported third quarter net income of 101.8 billion yen (US$ 917 million), a significant increase of 39.4 % over the same period last year and an earning per share of 114.79 yen (US$ 1.03).

"In terms of net sales, Canon recorded year-on-year growth of 9.2% for the third quarter. This was mainly due to the fact that we exceeded our projections for both monochrome and color laser beam printers. In addition to this, we continued to achieve significant net sales growth in semiconductor production equipment, digital cameras and color copying machines," said Toshizo Tanaka, Senior Managing Director and Group Executive for Finance and Accounting Headquarters, Canon Inc.

For more detailed information and tables, please refer to our Announcement of Third Quarter 2004 financial results at http://www.canon.com/ir/index.html.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.

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. Canon U.S.A. employs more than 10,000 people at over 30 locations. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to future results, performance and achievements that are subject to risk and uncertainties and reflect management's views and assumptions formed by available information. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be considered forward-looking statements. When used in this release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project" or "should" and similar expressions, as they relate to Canon, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canon to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, introduction of competing products by other companies, lack of acceptance of new products or services by Canon's targeted customers, inability to meet efficiency and cost reduction objectives, changes in business strategy and various other factors, both referenced and not referenced in this release. A detailed description of these and other risk factors is included in Canon's annual report on Form 20-F, which is on file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. Canon does not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Note: In this release, U.S. dollar amounts are translated from yen at the rate of US$ 1 = JPY 111, the approximate exchange rate on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market as of September 30, 2004, solely for the convenience of the reader.