Canon U.S.A. Taps New CEO

Canon U.S.A, Lake Success, N.Y., said Yoroku Adachi will step in to the role of president and CEO effective Friday. He will replace Kinya Uchida, who had been Canon's top boss in the U.S. since 1999. In a statement, Canon said its U.S.A. unit " which is responsible for sales in North America, South America and the Caribbean " had seen its sales and profit grow by 16 percent during Uchida's tenure.

Adachi is a 25-year veteran of Canon, and worked at Canon U.S.A. from 1978 through 1992, the company said. He has also served as president of Canon Canada, and CEO of Canon China and Canon Hong Kong, and chairman of Canon Singapore.

Canon U.S.A. is locked in battle with several vendors in the growing and highly contested color document imaging space in North America, offering a lineup that includes a series of higher-end multi-function devices under the Canon ImageRUNNER brand. Canon has also been expanding its software and application development operations over the past few years.