LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y.---July 30, 2002--Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. and a leader in imaging technologies, today announced Canon Inc. first half 2002 consolidated net sales of 1,384.5 billion yen (US$ 11,537 million), which represents a year-on-year decrease of 6.1% over the first half of fiscal year 2001. Canon Inc. reported first half net income of 73.2 billion yen (US$610 million), which represents a year-on-year decrease of 26.8%. Canon Inc. achieved an operating profit 2.2 percent higher than its original projection due to higher gross profit margins. Canon Inc. also reported second-quarter revenue of 733.4 billion yen (US$6,112 million), 3.4 percent lower than second-quarter 2001 with net income of 41.6 billion yen (US$346.3 million), 26.8 percent lower than second-quarter 2001. "A highlight of the first half was that both sales and profits recovered steadily, and Canon was able to achieve a high gross margin in the second quarter. Moving forward in the second half of 2002, sales and profits will be boosted mainly by rising sales of laser beam printers and digital cameras. Canon will benefit from the launch of new products and a more-than-expected market expansion. We expect that a recovery in the second half should lead to a slight improvement in sales and net income for the year," said Toshizo Tanaka, Senior Managing Director and Group Executive for Finance and Accounting Headquarters, Canon Inc.