Short description: American subsidiary (1992–2001)
Canon Computer Systems
Former headquarters in Costa Mesa, California
Type
Subsidiary
Industry
Computers
Fate
Restructured
Successor
Canon Digital Home and Personal Systems
Founded
April 1992; 33 years ago (1992-04)
Defunct
January 2001; 24 years ago (2001-01)
Headquarters
Costa Mesa, California
,
United States
Products
Innova series
NoteJet
Bubble Jet
Parent
Canon Inc.
Canon Computer Systems, Inc. (CCSI), sometimes shortened to Canon Computer, was an American subsidiary of Canon Inc. formed in 1992 to develop and market the parent company's personal computers and workstations. The subsidiary also assumed the responsibility of marketing Canon's printers and photocopiers, which were formerly sold by other Canon divisions. It went defunct in January 2001.
Contents
1History
2Computers
2.1Desktops
2.2Notebooks
2.2.1Innova
2.2.2Subnotebooks
2.2.3NoteJet
2.2.4Other
2.3Workstations
3References
4External links
History
Canon entered the computer industry in the 1970s,[1] starting with the AX-1 in October 1978. It sported the form factor of a desktop calculator and was fully programmable.[2][3] This was followed up with the AS-100 in 1982, which was a more-traditional albeit heavier personal computer that ran a Intel 8088 and ran MS-DOS.[4][3] Canon entered the home computer market in 1984 with the V-20 and V-10 in 1984 and 1985 respectively.[3] In 1987, the company released the Canon Cat—the brainchild of Jef Raskin who pioneered Apple's original Macintosh.[5] In 1989, the company took a large stake in NeXT, a computer hardware company founded by Steve Jobs in 1987 after he resigned as CEO of Apple in the mid-1980s.[6]
In April 1992, Canon spun off their computer manufacturing into Canon Computer Systems, a new subsidiary that also assumed the responsibility of marketing their parent company's printers and photocopiers. The subsidiary initially comprised 100 employees in October 1992, 50 based in Costa Mesa, California. Yasuhiro Tsubota, who founded Epson America in 1978, was named president. Several other higher-ups came from Epson America;[7] Tsubota left Epson for NeXT 1990, to serve as a consultant for Jobs.[8] The subsidiary's first offerings were a line of desktop computers and notebooks, branded as the Innova and Innova Book respectively. The company expected $125 million in revenue by October 1993.[7] They allocated $10 million of their initial budget on advertising, hiring the newly formed Hajjar/Kaufman (a spinoff of Dentsu) as their advertising agency.[9]
Most if not all of the notebooks in the Innova Book line were produced offshore by Taiwanese OEMs. Canon repeatedly turned to Chicony of Taipei, who lent their designs to Canon for their Innova Book 10 and Innova Book 200LS.[10][11] The former, released in 1994, was a subnotebook four pounds in weight,[12] while the latter, released in 1995, sported the largest screen of any laptop up to that point, at 11.3 inches diagonal.[13][14] Canon Computer collaborated with IBM's Japanese subsidiary to produce the Canon NoteJet, a notebook computer with a built-in inkjet printer, introduced to market in 1993.[15] In March 1994, Canon Computer took the reins of the NeXTstation after NeXT ceased manufacturing hardware in 1993.[16] They later released the Object.Station, an x86-based workstation based on the NeXTstation design.[17]
Although Canon Computer set a goal of $1 billion sales by 1997 in 1994, they were considered late newcomers to the market of personal computers.[18] Innovas and Innova Books continued to be sold until January 1997, when the company quietly left the desktop and notebook market, citing poor sales.[19] The subsidiary shifted its focus to silicon-on-insulator manufacturing, spending ¥3billion (US$25.8 million in 1997) to open up a clean room facility at Canon's plant in Hiratsuka, Tokyo. As part of this refocusing, Canon sold its existing shares of NeXT to Apple, who were in the process of acquiring that company after Jobs re-entered Apple in 1997.[1] Canon Computer continued to sell printers, scanners and digital cameras until January 2001, when the subsidiary was restructured and renamed to Canon Digital Home and Personal Systems. Tsubota was replaced by Ryoichi Bamba.[20]
Computers
Desktops
Name
Processor
Clock speed (MHz)
Date
Innova 386SX/33
386SX
33
October 1992[21]
Innova 486
486SX
25
October 1992[21]
Innova 486SX/33
486SX
33
August 1993[22]
Innova 486e
486SX
25
August 1993[22]
Innova 486v
486DX2
33–66
August 1993[22]
Innova Vision L33/210
486SX
33
March 1994[23]
Innova Vision L50/340
486DX2
50
March 1994[23]
Innova Media MT4900
486DX4
100
March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT7010
Pentium
75
March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT9110
Pentium
100
March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT7000
Pentium
75
March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT9100
Pentium
90
March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT4610
486DX2
66
June 1995[25]
Innova Media MT9010
Pentium
90
June 1995[25]
Innova Media MT7040
Pentium
75
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9120
Pentium
100
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9130
Pentium
100
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9300
Pentium
100
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9310
Pentium
100
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9320
Pentium
133
August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9600
Pentium
166
June 1996[27]
Innova Pro 5100SD
Pentium
100
May 1996[28]
Innova Pro 5400ST
Pentium
166
May 1996[28]
Innova Media MT9210
Pentium
120
November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9340
Pentium
133
November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9350
Pentium
133
November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9620
Pentium
166
November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9630
Pentium
166
November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9800
Pentium
200
November 1996[29]
Notebooks
Innova
Name
Processor
Clock speed (MHz)
Date
Innova 386NX
Am386SX
33
October 1992[30]
Innova 486NX
486SX
25
October 1992[30]
Innova Book 150C
486DX2
50
August 1994[31]
Innova Book 150CT
486DX2
50
August 1994[31]
Innova Book 1110 P75
Pentium
75
November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P75T
Pentium
75
November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P90
Pentium
90
November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P90T
Pentium
90
November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P120T
Pentium
120
November 1995[32]
Innova Book 175C
Cx486
100
November 1995[33]
Innova Book 200LS
486DX4
100
February 1995[14]
Innova Book 300P
Pentium
75
November 1995[33]
Innova Book 350CD
Cx5x86
100
November 1995[33]
Innova Book 360CD
Am5x86
133
April 1996[34]
Innova Book 475CDS
Pentium
100
May 1996[35]
Innova Book 475CDT
Pentium
100
May 1996[35]
Innova Book 620CDT
Pentium
133
June 1996[35]
Innova Book 480CDS
Pentium
100
November 1996[29]
Innova Book 480CDT
Pentium
100
November 1996[29]
Innova Book 490CDS
Pentium
133
November 1996[29]
Innova Book 490CDT
Pentium
133
November 1996[29]
Subnotebooks
Name
Processor
Clock speed (MHz)
Date
Innova Book 10
486SL
33
May 1994[12]
Innova Book 10C
486SL
33
May 1994[12]
NoteJet
Main page: Engineering:Canon NoteJet
Other
Name
Processor
Clock speed (MHz)
Stock RAM
LCD technology
Date
PN-100
PowerPC 603e
100
16
Active-matrix color
July 1995[36]
Power Notebook
PowerPC 603e
100
32
Active-matrix color
August 1995[37]
Workstations
Name
Processor
Clock speed (MHz)
Hard drive interface
Date
Object.Station 31
Pentium
100
IDE
February 1995[38]
Object.Station 41
Pentium
100
SCSI
February 1995[38]
Object.Station 50
Pentium
100
SCSI
June 1995[39]
Object.Station 52
Pentium
120
SCSI
June 1995[39]
Power Workstation
PowerPC 604 (single or dual)
100, 120, or 133
SCSI
June 1995[40]
References
↑ 1.01.1Staff writer (January 7, 1997). "Canon Bows Out of PC Market And Instead Will Produce Wafers". Asian Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company): 7. https://www.proquest.com/docview/315650791/.
↑Staff writer (April 15, 2011). "Canon AX-1". IPSJ Computer Museum. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140703040522/http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/personal/0079.html.
↑ 3.03.13.2Wiltshire, Alex; John Short (2020). Home Computers: 100 Icons that Defined a Digital Generation. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262044011. https://books.google.com/books?id=hUDXyQEACAAJ. Excerpt in Leonard, Marie-Anne (2020). "The Canon V-20, home computing icon". Canon Inc.. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127210204/https://en.canon-cna.com/view/canon-v20-home-computing-icon/.
↑Staff writer (n.d.). "Canon AS-100". Old-Computers.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210802093111/https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=591.
↑Rubin, Ross (July 27, 2019). "Meet the Canon Cat, the forgotten 1987 alternate-reality Mac". Fast Company. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190727052758/https://www.fastcompany.com/90380553/meet-the-canon-cat-the-forgotten-1987-alternate-reality-mac.
↑Staff writer (March 2, 1994). "Canon Computer to Ship NextStation". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127211928/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-02-fi-29142-story.html.
↑ 7.07.1Vranizan, Michelle (October 24, 1992). "Canon Computer Joins PC Wars". The Orange County Register: C1. https://www.proquest.com/docview/272621646/.
↑Levin, Dan (January 1994). "Canon nabs Epson execs". NextWorld Extra. Archived from the original on March 11, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100311094109/http://simson.net/ref/NeXT/nextworld/NextWorld_Extra/94.01.Jan.NWE/94.01.Jan.NWExtra21.html.
↑Elliott, Stuart (November 16, 1992). "Dentsu Americ Forms a Spinoff". The New York Times: D7. https://www.proquest.com/docview/428761538/.
↑Zimmerman, Michael R. (June 27, 1994). "Chicony sows crop of portables". PC Week (Ziff-Davis) 11 (25): 61. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16068130/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑DiCarlo, Lisa (March 27, 1995). "IPC releases slim notebook, big-screen unit". PC Week (Ziff-Davis) 12 (12): 45. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16742714/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑ 12.012.112.2Lee, Yvonne L. (May 9, 1994). "Canon ships color notebooks, ink-jet printers". InfoWorld (IDG Communications) 16 (19): 36. https://books.google.com/books?id=gzgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35.
↑Somers, Ana (May 30, 1995). "Innova Book: If Screen Size Matters More than Performance". PC Magazine (Ziff-Davis) 14 (10): 40. https://books.google.com/books?id=elneMPYGaagC&pg=PA40.
↑ 14.014.1Lee, Yvonne L. (February 13, 1995). "Innova Book 200LS line sports largest screen". InfoWorld (IDG Communications) 17 (7): 40. https://books.google.com/books?id=tjoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37.
↑Lewis, Peter H. (April 18, 1993). "The Executive Computer; Canon's New Laptop Packs a Nice Printer Inside". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/18/business/the-executive-computer-canon-s-new-laptop-packs-a-nice-printer-inside.html.
↑Staff writer (March 10, 1994). "Canon Computer Systems Forms Advanced Technology Unit in the US for NeXTstation, PowerHouse Boxes". Computer Business Review. New Statesman Media Group. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127215053/https://techmonitor.ai/techonology/canon_computer_systems_forms_advanced_technology_unit_in_the_us_for_nextstation_powerhouse_boxes.
↑Staff writer (n.d.). "Canon Object.Station". Old-Computers.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210803094635/https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1153.
↑Takahashi, Dean (March 29, 1994). "Canon Computer a Latecomer to PC Movement". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127215337/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-29-fi-39780-story.html.
↑Kirchner, Jake (July 1997). "The PC Magazine 100". PC Magazine (Ziff-Davis) 16 (13): 213–245. https://books.google.com/books?id=HOYtntaY99UC&pg=PT226.
↑"Canon U.S.A. Makes Strategic Move to Serve Digital Marketplace". Business Wire. January 5, 2001. https://www.proquest.com/docview/446066585/.
↑ 21.021.1Staff writer (October 1992). "New Canon desktops, notebooks, printers". Home Furnishings Daily (BridgeTower Media) 66 (43): 115. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A12797199/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑ 22.022.122.2Zimmerman, Michael R. (September 27, 1993). "Canon makes a major push into PC arena". PC World (Ziff-Davis) 10 (38): 29. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A14438495/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑ 25.025.1Staff writer (June 21, 1995). "Multimedia system from Canon touted as plug-and-go". Computing Canada (CEDROM-SNi) 21 (13): 47. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A17351822/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑ 26.026.126.226.326.426.5Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named pr
↑Spiwak, Marc (June 1996). "Loaded Canon is on target". Windows Magazine (UBM LLC) 7 (6): 104. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18308208/GPS?sid=wikipedia.
↑DiCarlo, Lisa (April 1, 1996). "Dell makes Latitude change; Canon aims for multimedia". PC Week (Ziff-Davis) 13 (13): 43. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18155457.
↑ 35.035.135.2DiCarlo, Lisa (April 1, 1996). "Dell makes Latitude change; Canon aims for multimedia". PC Week (Ziff-Davis) 13 (13): 43. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18155457.