Canon Establishes Research Subsidiary in U.S. : Expansion: The Tokyo-based firm says it hopes to develop its next-generation Navigator personal computer here.

Tokyo-based Canon Inc., known worldwide for its cameras and copiers, has established a U.S. research subsidiary here to develop its next-generation Navigator personal computer and software.

The unit, Canon Information Systems Inc. in Costa Mesa, also has established a software development center in Palo Alto, said Muneo Adachi, president of Canon Information.

The two research and development centers hope to tap into the pool of U.S. engineers to develop hardware, software and image-processing technology. They will also be involved in communications research, Adachi said.

Each center will hire 50 American engineers by the end of 1991, he said. The company plans to invest at least $32 million in Canon Information in the next two years.

“We decided to develop our personal computer here because of the high U.S. tax imposed on Japanese PC imports,” he said. “Also, our company’s policy is to globalize operations, to transform Canon from a Japanese company to a global company.”

That effort has already begun. The parent opened a research facility for image processing in Australia and a communications research facility in France this year.

The Navigator is an IBM-compatible PC with a telephone and facsimile. It was first introduced in Japan two years ago and the United States last month, but sales have been disappointing, Adachi said.

He said that Canon Information hopes to introduce the more powerful generation of Navigator in 1992. Adachi added that Canon is committed to developing its computer business and those plans will not be deterred by a downturn in the U.S. economy.

“Sometimes it’s a good time to start a new company during a recession because we can hire a lot of good talents to research and develop new products,” he said.

Adachi said that the products developed and manufactured in his company and other Canon U.S. operations will be sold domestically and exported to markets abroad, particularly to Japan and Europe.

Bruce Stephen, a PC analyst with Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp., said that it will not be easy for Canon to enter the global computer market.

“The hurdle they have to overcome is they are not a known player in the PC market,” he said.