The History of Canon
1976 - 1987
The first Premier Company Plan

[Enterprise] The first Premier Company Plan is launched. A committee is established to discuss Canon development, production and sales systems.

[Enterprise] The Kosugi office opens as a base for optical equipment.

[Enterprise] Canon (U.K.) Ltd. is established.

[Enterprise] Canon enters the facsimile machine market.

[Products] The AE-1 SLR camera with a built-in micro-computer is introduced, triggering an AE boom.

[Products] The CR-45NM, the world's first nonmydriatic retinal camera, is introduced.

[Enterprise] Ryuzaburo Kaku is appointed president of Canon Inc.

[Enterprise] The Utsunomiya plant of Tochigi Canon Inc. (today, Canon Inc.'s Utsunomiya Plant) opens.

[Products] The K-35 series of lenses for cinematography wins an Academy Award from the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

[Enterprise] A product-specific business division structure is introduced.

[Enterprise] Canon Australia Pty. Ltd. is established.

[Enterprise] Canon begins offering color copying services.

[Products] The NP-8500, the world's first retention-type copying machine, is introduced.

[Products] The PLA-500FA, the world's first mask aligner with a laser-based automatic alignment system, is introduced.

[Enterprise] Copyer Co., Ltd. becomes an affiliated company.

[Enterprise] Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. is established.

[Enterprise] Overseas sales exceed ¥100 billion for the first time.

[Products] The LBP-10, using a semiconductor laser, is introduced.

[Products] The AF35M, a fully automatic AF compact camera, is introduced.

[Products] A mini floppy disk drive is introduced.

[Products] The Canoword 55 Japanese-language word processor, the first such product with roman alphabet inputting, is introduced.

[Products] The Telefax B-601, Japan's first G2 fax, is introduced.

[Products] The Auto Ref R-1, an automatic refractometer, is introduced.

[Enterprise] The Hiratsuka Plant opens as the Component Development Center.

[Enterprise] The Ami Plant opens as a precision equipment factory for the manufacture of facsimiles and precision molds.

[Enterprise] The Ueno Plant opens as a copying machine and laser printer chemical product manufacturing factory.

[Products] The NP-8500 SUPER, an ultrahigh-speed copying machine capable of producing 135 copies per minute, is introduced.

[Products] The New F-1, a professional-use system SLR, is introduced.

[Products] A CVC video system is introduced.

[Enterprise] The Second Premier Company Plan is launched.

[Enterprise] Oita Canon Inc. is established in Japan.

[Products] The PC-10 and PC-20, the world's first personal copying machines with replaceable cartridges, are introduced.

[Products] The HT-3000 handy terminal is introduced.

[Products] The AS-100 16-bit personal computer is introduced.

[Products] The AP400 and AP500 electronic typewriters (for Western languages) are introduced.

[Products] The Crib-O-Gram, an audio-visual tester for infants, is introduced.

[Enterprise] Canon Bretagne S.A.S. is established in France.

[Enterprise] The Utsunomiya Optical Products Plant opens as a factory to manufacture mask aligners and peripheral equipment.

[Products] The CanoWord Mini 5 personal-use word processor is introduced.

[Products] The MyCard, credit card-sized calculator, is introduced.

[Products] The T50 SLR camera is introduced and wins Japan's 1983 Good Design Grand Prize.

[Enterprise] A joint technology agreement is signed in the PRC; copying machine production starts at facilities in Zhanjiang and Tianjin.

[Enterprise] Canon Components, Inc. is established in Japan.

[Enterprise] Canon starts OEM supply of laser printers to Hewlett Packard Co. of the U.S.

[Products] The PC Printer 70 is introduced as the world's first plain-paper reader/printer for COM.

[Products] Canon announces laser beam facsimile machines.

[Products] Practical tests of a still video camcorder are conducted at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

[Products] The digital laser copying machine system NP-9030 is introduced.

[Products] The LBP-8/CX, the world's smallest and lightest laser printer, is introduced.

[Products] The FPA-1500FA stepper for 1 MDRAM is introduced.

[Products] The PV14 x 12.5B HD, a zoom lens for high-definition television, is announced.

[Enterprise] Canon Virginia, Inc., is established in the U.S.A.

[Enterprise] Lotte Canon Co., Ltd. (today, Canon Korea Business Solutions Inc.), a joint venture, is established in the ROK.

[Products] The BJ-80, the world's first inkjet printer using Bubble Jet technology, is introduced.

[Products] The Canofile 5500 electronic filing system is introduced.

[Products] The EZPS5300 electronic editing and printing system is introduced.

[Products] The Canovision 8 VM-E1, an 8 mm video camcorder, is introduced.

[Enterprise] A tie-up agreement covering ISDN fax interface technology is concluded with Siemens AG of Germany.

[Enterprise] A tie-up agreement covering advanced medical equipment is concluded with Eastman Kodak Co. of the U.S.

[Products] The FC-3 and FC-5 portable personal-use copying machines are introduced.

[Products] The FAX L3100, conforming to the G4 standard, is introduced.

[Products] The Canola BP1210-D, a Bubble Jet desktop calculator, is introduced.

[Products] The T90 high-performance electronic SLR camera is introduced.

[Products] The RC-701, the world's first still video camera, and video system is introduced.

[Products] Sales begin for the Auto Keratometer RK-1, which can measure both refractivity and corneal shape.

[Products] Canon’s Corner Cube Reflector is installed in the Ajisai geodetic satellite.

[Enterprise] The Canon Foundation is established to provide assistance for research into mutual understanding between Japan and Europe.

[Enterprise] Canon licenses camera technologies to GoldStar Precision of Korea, which begins production.

[Products] The CLC-1, a digital full-color copying machine, is introduced.

[Products] The EOS autofocus SLR camera is introduced along with a range of EF lenses.

[Products] The Board Copier A-1, an electronic blackboard that can print on plain paper, is introduced.

[Products] Sales of the CanoWord α series Japanese word processor begin.

[Products] Canon launches a broadcasting lens with 50x zoom, then the highest zoom ratio in the world.

[Products] Sales of CAPLAS, a CAE software application for use in injection molding, commence.