Canon Inc. will spend more than 900 billion yen on research and development through 2005, up by more than 30 percent from the previous three-year period, with the focus on cutting-edge technologies, company officials said Wednesday.
The increased investment will concentrate on nanotechnology and other promising fields.
Canon spent some 670 billion yen on R&D in the three years through 2002, and the investment amount was equivalent to about 8 percent of the company's sales, according to the officials.
Under the new plan, Canon aims to increase its R&D investment to around 10 percent of overall sales, with the additional portion slated to be put up for studies of cutting-edge technologies, the officials said.
A new laboratory will be set up in Kawasaki for research on ultrafine particles for making ink, they said.