Minolta fully enters the laser beam printer market with the introduction of a SP101, monochrome laser printer, is launched. Additionally, a CF70, digital full-color copier, is launched
Minolta (named Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. at the time) had been working to reinforce the office equipment business as its second pillar of management. To do so, it fully entered the laser beam printer market with the introduction of a compact monochrome laser printer, SP101, and also launched a full-color digital copier, the CF70, which was equipped with the proprietary Laser Intensity Modulation System (LIMOS) and thus capable of producing high-quality copies. In recognition of the excellence of this technology, Minolta was awarded the Outstanding Technology Prize by the Society of Electrophotography of Japan (presently called the Imaging Society of Japan) in the same year.