Redwood City Ð Despite reports to the contrary, talks at press time continued between Canon and NeXT for transfer of the hard-ware division and factory. But a drain of personnel had added an urgency to completing the deal.
"We will buy the hardware division," said a Canon spokesperson. "We are hoping to finish the deal by [NeXTWORLD] Expo."
Canon had agreed in principle to acquire NeXT's Fremont, California, factory and hardware-design center, form a business unit, and hire about 50 NeXT hardware-division employees. But the purchase relies heavily on maintaining the expertise of the employees, and, at press time, NeXT had lost a half of its hardware engineers, leaving about 25 still on staff. According to NeXT, the critical senior managers, including Vice-President Jon Rubinstein, remained in place. NeXT cofounder George Crow, however, has left.
Sources said that several other issues complicated the talks, including Canon's long-range plan for the U.S. market and its interrelationship with NeXT.