Click to enlarge

The report notes that its net income will probably climb 2.4 per cent to $US4.8 billion in 2008 with the company forecasting its slowest annual profit growth in nine years on concerns the U.S. economy is headed for a recession.

And Ricoh Japan's second-largest maker of office equipment behind Canon, today also projected profit that missed analyst estimates.

Canon said camera sales will probably climb 2.3 per cent to 1.18 trillion yen in 2008, compared with a previous forecast for 6.9 per cent increase to 1.23 trillion yen.

Separately, Ricoh forecast net income will rise 1.4 per cent to 108 billion yen this fiscal year, which is less than the 116 billion yen the company forecast earlier for this year.