Canon Introduces the Industry's First Multifunction Printer for Apple's iMac and Power Macintosh G3.

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 1999--

Now Mac Users Have a Complete Color Solution to Print, Fax,

Copy and Scan With A Single Integrated Device

Continuing in its long-standing tradition of offering technological "firsts" to small office/home office (SOHO) users, Canon Computer Systems Inc. (CCSI) today introduced the MultiPASS C635, the industry's first Apple-compatible multifunction printer (MFP).

With the MultiPASS C635, Canon builds upon the strength of its award-winning MFP line to make multifunction printing available to Mac customers. Now Apple's iMac and Power Macintosh G3 users can enjoy the convenience of printing, faxing, copying and scanning with a single, easy-to-use device.

The MultiPASS C635, designed specifically for the Apple market by Canon, combines superior photo-realistic color printing, color scanning, color copying and plain-paper faxing -- all in one value-priced space-saving unit. The MFP offers state-of-the-art PhotoRealism and Color Bubble Jet printing at approximately 6.5 pages-per-minute (ppm) in black, approximately 2.5 ppm in color and features fast 600 dots-per-inch (dpi) automatic document feeder (ADF) color scanning.

Shipping in July, the MultiPASS C635 will carry an estimated street price of $379(a). It comes bundled with Canon Creative software for the Mac SOHO professional. Initially, the MultiPASS C635 will be available through Mac-specific catalogues and online via authorized resellers. Additionally, Canon will be pursuing full retail distribution opportunities with Apple's authorized iMac and Power Macintosh G3 computer dealers in the Fall.

According to InfoBeads, a Ziff-Davis Company in La Jolla, Calif., Apple now accounts for 13% of U.S. retail and mail-order PC sales, more than double its share from a year earlier.

"We're the first to offer Mac users MFP units that truly meet the SOHO Mac user's needs," says Peter Bergman, vice president of marketing and customer care at CCSI. "Canon is committed to delivering state-of-the-art technology products to Mac users with superior color printing output -- especially graphics professionals. This is a natural marriage between Canon's color/photo heritage linked to Apple's focus on supporting the graphics marketplace."

According to International Data Corp. (IDC), the MFP market is expected to grow 18 percent by the year 2003. As a leader in the MFP category, Canon currently commands a 29 percent market share in the ink jet MFP segment of this market(b). Additionally, Canon was the first to announce the industry's only photo-realistic printing MFP, the MultiPASS C3000 Color Bubble Jet MFP. In August of 1998, Canon announced the first MultiPASS multifunction printers -- incorporating the latest state-of-the-art printer engines to produce photo-realistic Color Bubble Jet printing.

"iMac and our new Power Macintosh G3s are inspiring developers to introduce a deluge of innovative and compelling Macintosh products, " said David Moody, Apple's senior director of worldwide product marketing. "Canon has been a long-time supporter of the Macintosh platform and the new MultiPASS C635 product is an outstanding MFP that will be appreciated by Macintosh users, especially those in the SOHO market who require high-quality print output and easy-to-use scanning and copying."

MultiPASS C635 Features

The MuliPASS C635 incorporates Canon's advanced, award-winning Bubble Jet technology which produces high-quality output for Mac users. Canon has long been recognized for being "first" in the ink jet printer market and holds more than 10,000 patents on Bubble Jet technology. With workplace dynamics involving small, satellite and home offices becoming more prevalent, the MultiPASS C635 is the ultimate SOHO tool for Mac users with its combination of color printing, scanning, color copying and faxing capabilities.

Color Printing: Designed exclusively for the Apple user and utilizing Canon's economical space-saving design, the MultiPASS C635 is based on Canon's award-winning BJC-4400 Color Bubble Jet printer. The compact unit includes a bi-directional USB-to-parallel cable and offers photo-realistic color output at 720 x 360 dpi on a variety of papers, as well as approximately 6.5 ppm monochrome print speed and approximately 2.5 ppm for speedy color printing and business graphics.

Plain-paper faxing: Canon has been the leading plain-paper facsimile manufacturer for nearly a decade. The MultiPASS C635 plain-paper Bubble Jet fax function operates at fast transmission speeds of 6 seconds per page. With transmission speeds of 14.4 Kbps, the unit also functions as a standalone fax and can work without connection to an Apple computer.

Color Copying: The MultiPASS C635 also offers standalone color copying, a feature that allows Mac users to produce brilliant, photo-realistic color copies without support from their iMac, Power Macintosh G3, or other USB-enabled PowerPC. The unit produces monchrome copies at 360 x 360 dpi using Canon's exclusive UHQ (ultra high quality) digital image processing technology.

Color Scanning: The MultiPASS C635 offers fast, high-quality ADF color scanning up to 600 dpi (enhanced) with the capability to scan up to 30 documents automatically using a unique batch scanning feature. Mac users may also increase their productivity with hands-off optical character recognition (OCR) scanning. The MultiPASS C635 gives Mac users the ability to scan photos and color graphics for professional-looking presentations and Web pages.

Canon Creative for Mac

Canon offers superior software applications that give SOHO Mac users a professional look and creative tools to maximize their hardware performance and produce high-quality materials.

These robust applications are included on a software CD-ROM specifically designed for the Mac home office/small business customer and are a customized Mac version of Canon's award-winning Canon Creative software. The suite includes a simple, easy-to-use MultiPASS Desktop Manager (from Infowave Software Inc.) that allows users to quickly print, scan or copy; Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 for photo image management and graphics editing; and ScanSoft's TextBridge Professional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) application software for scanning text. In addition, MultiPASS C635 users will receive free membership to an online SOHO community where users can host their own web pages.

Warranty and Customer Technical Support

The MultiPASS C635 comes with a one-year limited warranty, which includes the SelectExchange warranty program(c).

CCSI offers a full range of live customer technical support options including: 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, toll-free automated support for basic product troubleshooting issues on most current products; option to speak to a technician free of service charge during regular business days/hours for products under warranty; paid support for urgent product matters during non-regular business hours; the Canon Computer Systems Inc. Web site and 24-hour, toll-free Fax Retrieval System(d).

About CCSI

Canon Computer Systems Inc. (CCSI) is a subsidiary of both Canon USA Inc. (Lake Success, NY) and Canon Inc. (Tokyo). Headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., CCSI was founded in 1992 to market Canon-branded computer peripheral products in the United States, including Color Bubble Jet printers, the MultiPASS line of multifunction printers, FAXPHONE facsimile machines, CanoScan color flatbed scanners and Canon Creative software. Retail software products are marketed by Canon Software Publishing, a subsidiary of CCSI created in 1998. Customers are reached via the mass-market channel -- a network of computer dealers, superstores and mass merchants. For more information, customers can call 1-800-OK-CANON or visit the CCSI Web site at www.ccsi.canon.com.

Canon is recognized as the world's largest computer printer manufacturer, a leader in imaging technology and a top worldwide patent holder. As a global technology leader, Canon achieved $24 billion in worldwide sales in 1998. -0-

(a)  Based on 1998 unit volume
(b)  Prices are estimates only, subject to change.  Actual prices
     etermined by individual dealers and may vary.
(c)  SelectExchange warranty program subject to restrictions and
     limitations. See warranty card for details.
(d)  Support program specifics subject to change without notice.