Canon Computer Systems

American subsidiary (1992–2001) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canon Computer Systemsmap

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.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...
Canon Computer Systems
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryComputers
FoundedApril 1992; 33 years ago (1992-04)
DefunctJanuary 2001; 24 years ago (2001-01)
FateRestructured
SuccessorCanon Digital Home and Personal Systems
Headquarters
Costa Mesa, California
,
United States
Products
ParentCanon Inc.
Websiteccsi.canon.com at the Wayback Machine (archived October 31, 1996)
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History

Summarize
Perspective

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 notebook-sized laptops, 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] Other models, including the 150, 300, and 400 series Innova Books, were manufactured by Featron, another Taiwanese OEM/ODM. 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 ¥3 billion (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

More information Name, Processor ...
Name Processor Clock speed
(MHz)
Date
Innova 386SX/33386SX33October 1992[21]
Innova 486486SX25October 1992[21]
Innova 486SX/33486SX33August 1993[22]
Innova 486e486SX25August 1993[22]
Innova 486v486DX233–66August 1993[22]
Innova Vision L33/210486SX33March 1994[23]
Innova Vision L50/340486DX250March 1994[23]
Innova Media MT4900486DX4100March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT7010Pentium75March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT9110Pentium100March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT7000Pentium75March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT9100Pentium90March 1995[24]
Innova Media MT4610486DX266June 1995[25]
Innova Media MT9010Pentium90June 1995[25]
Innova Media MT7030Pentium75August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT7040Pentium75August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9120Pentium100August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9130Pentium100August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9300Pentium100August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9310Pentium100August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9320Pentium133August 1995[26]
Innova Media MT9600Pentium166June 1996[27]
Innova Pro 5100SDPentium100May 1996[28]
Innova Pro 5400STPentium166May 1996[28]
Innova Media MT9210Pentium120November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9340Pentium133November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9350Pentium133November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9620Pentium166November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9630Pentium166November 1996[29]
Innova Media MT9800Pentium200November 1996[29]
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Notebooks

Innova

More information Name, Processor ...
Name Processor Clock speed
(MHz)
Date
Innova 386NXAm386SX33October 1992[30]
Innova 486NX486SX25October 1992[30]
Innova Book 150C486DX250August 1994[31]
Innova Book 150CT486DX250August 1994[31]
Innova Book 1110 P75Pentium75November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P75TPentium75November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P90Pentium90November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P90TPentium90November 1995[32]
Innova Book 1100 P120TPentium120November 1995[32]
Innova Book 175CCx486100November 1995[33]
Innova Book 200LS486DX4100February 1995[14]
Innova Book 300PPentium75November 1995[33]
Innova Book 350CDCx5x86100November 1995[33]
Innova Book 360CDAm5x86133April 1996[34]
Innova Book 475CDSPentium100May 1996[35]
Innova Book 475CDTPentium100May 1996[35]
Innova Book 620CDTPentium133June 1996[35]
Innova Book 480CDSPentium100November 1996[29]
Innova Book 480CDTPentium100November 1996[29]
Innova Book 490CDSPentium133November 1996[29]
Innova Book 490CDTPentium133November 1996[29]
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Subnotebooks

More information Name, Processor ...
Name Processor Clock speed
(MHz)
Date
Innova Book 10486SL33May 1994[12]
Innova Book 10C486SL33May 1994[12]
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NoteJet

Other

More information Name, Processor ...
Name Processor Clock speed
(MHz)
Stock
RAM
LCD technology Date
PN-100PowerPC 603e10016Active-matrix colorJuly 1995[36]
Power NotebookPowerPC 603e10032Active-matrix colorAugust 1995[37]
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Workstations

More information Name, Processor ...
Name Processor Clock speed
(MHz)
Hard drive
interface
Date
Object.Station 31Pentium100IDEFebruary 1995[38]
Object.Station 41Pentium100SCSIFebruary 1995[38]
Object.Station 50Pentium100SCSIJune 1995[39]
Object.Station 52Pentium120SCSIJune 1995[39]
Power WorkstationPowerPC 604 (single or dual)100, 120, or 133SCSIJune 1995[40]
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References

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