| Type | Public (TYO: 6952) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | June 1, 1957 |
| Headquarters | Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan[1] |
| Key people | Kazuo Kashio (President) Hideaki Terada (Chairman and CEO) |
| Products | Watches, digital cameras, electronic calculators, electronic musical instruments, mobile phones |
| Revenue | $4.616 billion (2010) |
| Employees | 11,336 (2010) |
| Website | world.casio.com |
Casio Computer Co., Ltd. (カシオ計算機株式会社 Kashio Keisanki Kabushiki-gaisha) is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches. In 1957 Casio released the world's first entirely electric compact calculator.
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Casio was established in April 1946 by Tadao Kashio, an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Kashio's first major product was the yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a cigarette, allowing the wearer to smoke the cigarette down to its nub while also leaving the wearer's hands free. Japan was impoverished immediately following World War II so cigarettes were valuable, and the invention was a success.
After seeing the electric calculators at the first Business Show in Ginza, Tokyo in 1949, Kashio and his younger brothers used their profits from the yubiwa pipe to develop their own calculators. Most of the calculators at that time worked using gears and could be operated by hand using a crank or using a motor (see adding machine). Kashio possessed some knowledge of electronics, and set out to make a calculator using solenoids. The desk-sized calculator was finished in 1954 and was Japan's first electro-mechanical calculator. One of the central innovations of the calculator was its adoption of the 10-key number pad; at that time other calculators were using a "full keypad", which meant that each place in the number (1s, 10s, 100s, etc...) had nine keys. Another innovation was the use of a single display window instead of the three display windows (one for each argument and one for the answer) used in other calculators.
In 1957 Casio released the Model 14-A, sold for 485,000 yen,[2] the world's first all-electric compact calculator, which was based on relay technology. 1957 also marked the establishment of Casio Computer Co. Ltd.
In the 1980s, its budget electronic instruments and home keyboards gained huge popularity. The company also became well known for the wide variety and innovation of its wristwatches. It was one of the earliest manufacturers of quartz crystal watches, both digital and analog. It also began selling calculator watches during this time. It was one of the first manufacturers of watches that could display the time in many different time zones and of watches with temperature, atmospheric-pressure, altitude, and even GPS position displays.
A number of notable digital cameras firsts have been made by Casio, including the first consumer digital camera with an LCD screen, the first consumer 3 megapixel camera, the first true ultra-compact model, and the first digital camera to incorporate ceramic lens technology.
Chronology of Selected Main Products[3]
| Date of Launch (in Japan) | Model Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 1957 | 14A | All-electric compact calculator |
| Sep 1965 | 001 | Electronic desktop calculator with onboard memory |
| Oct 1967 | AL-1000 | World's first desktop electronic calculator with program |
| Aug 1972 | Casio MINI | World's first personal calculator |
| May 1974 | fx-10 | Personal scientific function calculator |
| Nov 1974 | Casiotron | First electronic wristwatch |
| Jan 1980 | CT-201 | First electronic musical instrument |
| Oct 1981 | TR-2000 | First electronic dictionary |
| Apr 1983 | G-SHOCK (DW-5000C) | Shock-resistant wristwatch |
| May 1983 | PF-3000 | First digital diary |
| Jun 1983 | TV-10 | First pocket LCD TV |
| Nov 1983 | SL-800 | Credit card-size calculator |
| Mar 1985 | FS-10 | Ultra-thin digital watch |
| Nov 1987 | VS-101 | Electronic still camera |
| Nov 1991 | KL-1000 | Nameland label printer |
| Dec 1994 | Baby-G | G-SHOCK for women |
| Mar 1995 | QV-10 | Digital camera with LCD monitor |
| Nov 1996 | CASSIOPEIA (A-10/11) | Handheld PC with Windows CE (sales in North America) |
| Jun 1999 | PRT-1GPJ | World's first wristwatch with GPS sensor |
| Nov 1999 | C303CA | Cellular phone with water and shock resistance |
| Jun 2000 | WQV-1 | World's first wristwatch with digital camera |
| Nov 2001 | WVA-300 | Radio controlled wristwatch powered by solar battery |
| Jun 2002 | EX-S1 | First EXILIM digital camera—thinnest in the world (claimed) |
| Nov 2005 | OCW-600/OCW-10 | OCEANUS five-motor chronograph watch |
| Jun 2007 | OCEANUS Manta | Slim solar-powered radio-controlled watch in full-metal case |
| Feb 2008 | EX-S10 | World's smallest and thinnest 10.1 megapixel digital camera |
| Mar 2008 | EX-F1 | Digital camera with world's fastest burst shooting performance |
Products include calculators, watches, cash registers, illuminators, digital cameras (Exilim Series), film cameras, laptop and sub-notebook computers, mobile phones, electronic keyboards, PDAs (E-Data Bank), electronic dictionaries, Digital Diaries, computer printers, clocks, and portable televisions.
Today, Casio is most commonly known for durable, large sized watches. Especially popular are its dual function (LCD and analog) watches, some of which, called Wave Ceptors, receive radio signals daily from an atomic clock to keep accurate time.
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Digital camera
PDA/DataBank
Electronic dictionary
Data and video projector
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System products
Printing systems
Musical instrument
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Synthesizers
Digital cameras
Electronic sirens
Watch Series
Scientific calculators
Handheld computers
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