The History of Canon 1976 - 1987
The first Premier Company Plan
History of Enterprise
year
History of Products
1976
- The first Premier Company Plan is launched. A committee is established to discuss Canon development, production and sales systems.
- The Kosugi office opens as a base for optical equipment.
- Canon (U.K.) Ltd. is established.
- Canon enters the facsimile machine market.
1976
- The AE-1 SLR camera with a built-in micro-computer is introduced, triggering an AE boom.
AE-1
- The CR-45NM, the world's first nonmydriatic retinal camera, is introduced.
1977
- Ryuzaburo Kaku is appointed president of Canon Inc.
Ryuzaburo Kaku
- The Utsunomiya plant of Tochigi Canon Inc. (today, Canon Inc.'s Utsunomiya Plant) opens.
1977
- The K-35 series of lenses for cinematography wins an Academy Award from the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
1978
- A product-specific business division structure is introduced.
- Canon Australia Pty. Ltd. is established.
- Canon begins offering color copying services.
1978
- The NP-8500, the world's first retention-type copying machine, is introduced.
- The PLA-500FA, the world's first mask aligner with a laser-based automatic alignment system, is introduced.
1979
- Copyer Co., Ltd. becomes an affiliated company.
- Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. is established.
- Overseas sales exceed ¥100 billion for the first time.
1979
- The LBP-10, using a semiconductor laser, is introduced.
LBP-10
- The AF35M, a fully automatic AF compact camera, is introduced.
- A mini floppy disk drive is introduced.
1980
- The Canoword 55 Japanese-language word processor, the first such product with roman alphabet inputting, is introduced.
Canoword 55
- The Telefax B-601, Japan's first G2 fax, is introduced.
- The Auto Ref R-1, an automatic refractometer, is introduced.
1981
- The Hiratsuka Plant opens as the Component Development Center.
- The Ami Plant opens as a precision equipment factory for the manufacture of facsimiles and precision molds.
- The Ueno Plant opens as a copying machine and laser printer chemical product manufacturing factory.
1981
- The NP-8500 SUPER, an ultrahigh-speed copying machine capable of producing 135 copies per minute, is introduced.
- The New F-1, a professional-use system SLR, is introduced.
- A CVC video system is introduced.
1982
- The Second Premier Company Plan is launched.
- Oita Canon Inc. is established in Japan.
1982
- The PC-10 and PC-20, the world's first personal copying machines with replaceable cartridges, are introduced.
- The HT-3000 handy terminal is introduced.
- The AS-100 16-bit personal computer is introduced.
- The AP400 and AP500 electronic typewriters (for Western languages) are introduced.
- The Crib-O-Gram, an audio-visual tester for infants, is introduced.
1983
- Canon Bretagne S.A.S. is established in France.
- The Utsunomiya Optical Products Plant opens as a factory to manufacture mask aligners and peripheral equipment.
1983
- The CanoWord Mini 5 personal-use word processor is introduced.
- The MyCard, credit card-sized calculator, is introduced.
- The T50 SLR camera is introduced and wins Japan's 1983 Good Design Grand Prize.
1984
- A joint technology agreement is signed in the PRC; copying machine production starts at facilities in Zhanjiang and Tianjin.
- Canon Components, Inc. is established in Japan.
- Canon starts OEM supply of laser printers to Hewlett Packard Co. of the U.S.
1984
- The PC Printer 70 is introduced as the world's first plain-paper reader/printer for COM.
- Canon announces laser beam facsimile machines.
- Practical tests of a still video camcorder are conducted at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
- The digital laser copying machine system NP-9030 is introduced.
- The LBP-8/CX, the world's smallest and lightest laser printer, is introduced.
- The FPA-1500FA stepper for 1 MDRAM is introduced.
- The PV14 x 12.5B HD, a zoom lens for high-definition television, is announced.
1985
- Canon Virginia, Inc., is established in the U.S.A.
- Lotte Canon Co., Ltd. (today, Canon Korea Business Solutions Inc.), a joint venture, is established in the ROK.
1985
- The BJ-80, the world's first inkjet printer using Bubble Jet technology, is introduced.
- The Canofile 5500 electronic filing system is introduced.
- The EZPS5300 electronic editing and printing system is introduced.
- The Canovision 8 VM-E1, an 8 mm video camcorder, is introduced.
1986
- A tie-up agreement covering ISDN fax interface technology is concluded with Siemens AG of Germany.
- A tie-up agreement covering advanced medical equipment is concluded with Eastman Kodak Co. of the U.S.
1986
- The FC-3 and FC-5 portable personal-use copying machines are introduced.
FC-3
- The FAX L3100, conforming to the G4 standard, is introduced.
- The Canola BP1210-D, a Bubble Jet desktop calculator, is introduced.
- The T90 high-performance electronic SLR camera is introduced.
- The RC-701, the world's first still video camera, and video system is introduced.
- Sales begin for the Auto Keratometer RK-1, which can measure both refractivity and corneal shape.
- Canon’s Corner Cube Reflector is installed in the Ajisai geodetic satellite.
1987
- The Canon Foundation is established to provide assistance for research into mutual understanding between Japan and Europe.
- Canon licenses camera technologies to GoldStar Precision of Korea, which begins production.
1987
- The CLC-1, a digital full-color copying machine, is introduced.
- The EOS autofocus SLR camera is introduced along with a range of EF lenses.
EOS 650
- The Board Copier A-1, an electronic blackboard that can print on plain paper, is introduced.
- Sales of the CanoWord α series Japanese word processor begin.
- Canon launches a broadcasting lens with 50x zoom, then the highest zoom ratio in the world.
- Sales of CAPLAS, a CAE software application for use in injection molding, commence.