Casio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Casio Computer Company, Limited
カシオ計算機株式会社
 |
| Type |
Public |
| Traded as |
TYO: 6952 |
| Industry |
Electronic engineering |
| Founded |
1 June 1957
(Casio Computer Co., Ltd.)
April 1946
(Kashio Seisakujo)[1] |
| Headquarters |
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan[2] |
| Key people |
Kazuo Kashio (President)
Hideaki Terada
(Chairman and CEO) |
| Products |
Watches, clocks, electronic calculators, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, mobile phones |
| Revenue |
$4.616 billion (2010) |
| Employees |
11,336 (2010) |
| Website |
world.casio.com |
The
Casio Computer Company, Limited (カシオ計算機株式会社 Kashio Keisanki Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a
multinational electronics manufacturing
company headquartered in
Shibuya,
Tokyo,
Japan. Its products include
calculators, mobile phones,
cameras,
musical instruments and
watches. It was founded in 1946, and in 1957 released the world's first entirely electric compact
calculator.
History
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,
[3]
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
musical keyboard instruments 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 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
Global Positioning System 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.
Timeline of product releases
- 1957 Casio releases the Model 14-A, the world's first all-electric compact calculator.
- 1965 The 001 calculator is released.
- 1972 The release of Casio's personal calculator. The Casio "Mini" sells for 12,800 yen, going on to sell over 10 million units.
- 1974 The Casiotron, a watch that features a fully automatic calendar, including month lengths and leap years, is released.
- 1980 Casio releases its Casiotone keyboard instrument.
- 1983 The first G-Shock watch, the DW-5000C, is released.
- 1985 Casio launches its first professional synthesiser, the CZ-101.
- 1987 The DG-10/20 and MG-500/510 electronic guitar with multiple tones and functions are released.
- 1991 The F-91W digital watch, retro design with alarm and stopwatch, is released.
- 1995 The Illuminator/Foxfire backlight is released. The DW-5600E was announced as the first G-Shock watch with a full EL LCD panel.
- 1995 The QV-10, the world's first digital camera that includes a TFT display, is released.
- 2000 The WQV-1, the world's first wristwatch with digital camera is released.
- 2002 The EX-S1, the first Exilim digital camera is released.
- 2007 The OCW-S1000J, dubbed the Oceanus "Manta", is released, being the world's thinnest solar-powered chronograph at approx. 8.9 mm in thickness.
- 2011 Casio releases the Casio Prizm (fx-CG10/fx-CG20), a full-color graphing calculator.
Chronology of Selected Main Products[4]
| 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 |
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-P1000 |
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
Casio's 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.
When Casio was founded, it was known for its electronic and
scientific calculators. Today, Casio is most commonly known for durable,
large sized watches. Especially popular are its dual function (
LCD and
analog) watches, some of which, including
Wave Ceptor and Pro Trek / Pathfinder series, receive radio signals daily from an
atomic clock to keep accurate time. The G-Shock range of shock resistant watches, is also quite popular, with the 1983 G-Shock
DW-5600C
being highly sought-after by collectors. Casio also makes products for
local markets, including a "Prayer Compass" watch designed to help
Muslims pray on time and in the right direction.
[5]
Watches
- G-Shock
- MR-G
- Master of G
- Frogman (Shock Resist & ISO 200M Water Resist)
- Riseman (Shock Resist & Twin Sensor)
- Mudman (Shock Resist & Mud Resist)
- Gulfman (Shock Resist & Rust Resist)
- MT-G
- GIEZ
- Original
- Standard
- Oceanus
- Smart Access Model
- Manta
- Cachalot
- Digtal Analog Combination
- Classic Line
- Ladies Line (Japan)
- Casio Sport
- Pro Trek ( Asia / Europe / Other Areas ) / Pathfinder ( USA / Canada )
- PHYS
- Sea-Pathfinder
- Others
- Edifice
- Baby-G
- Sheen (Asia)
- Regular
- Combination
- Data Bank
- e-DataBank
- Classic
- Analog
- Digital
- Analog-Digital
- Wave Ceptor
Scientific calculators
- Graphing
- FX-9860G / GII / SD
- FX-9860G Slim
- ClassPad 300 Plus / 330
- Algebra FX 2.0 Plus
- FX 1.0 Plus
- CFX-9850GC Plus
- CFX-9850GB Plus
- CFX-9800G
- FX-9750G Plus / GII
- FX-8500G, 8000G
- FX-7500G, 7400G Plus / GII
- FX-7000G
- VI-9850GB Plus
- RM 7000/9000
- Programming
- FX-5800P, 3950P, 3650P, 50F Plus, 50F
- FX-4500PA
- FX-5500LA, 5500L
- FX-3600P
- FX-3900PV
- FX-4800P
- FX-850P
- FX-702P
- FX-603P, 602P
- FX-502P, 501P
- "Natural V.P.A.M."
- FX-991ES Plus, 570ES Plus, 350ES Plus, 115ES Plus, 95ES Plus, 85ES Plus, 82ES Plus
- OH-300ES Plus
- "Natural Display"
- FX-991ES, 570ES, 115ES
- FX-500ES, 350ES, 300ES, 85ES, 82ES, 83ES
- OH-300ES
- V.P.A.M. / S-V.P.A.M. / Two-line, Multi-replay
- FX-991MS, 570MS, 115MS, 912MS (Japan domestic), 100MS, 85MS, 350MS, 82MS, 820MS, 95MS
- OH-300MS
- FX-82TL, 83W, 85W, 85WA, 300W, 350TL, 911W, 270W, 270W PLUS, 83WA
- FX-991W, 570W, 115W, 100W, 115WA
- V.P.A.M.
- FX-993S, 992S, 991S, 570S, 115S, 100S, 122S
- LCD (One-line)
- FX-65 (True fraction)
- FX-95 (equation)
- FX-901
- FX-82B, 82SUPER, 250D, 82C, 82D, 82LB
- FX-82SX, 82 SOLAR
- FX-991D, 570D, 115D, 100D, 570AD, 570CD
- FX-2000, 2500
- FX-82, 82L
- FX-570, 100, 350, 77
- FX-992V, 992VB, 85V
- FX-180P, 390PV (Program)
- FX-4000P, 3500P, 3800P (Program)
- AQ-1000, 1500
- VFD (Digitron) display
- FX-1, 10, 17, 19, 20, 21, 29, 39, 101
- FX-201P (Program)
Electronic calculators
- LCD display
- Desk calculators
- Pocket calculators
- Printing calculators
- VFD (Digitron) / LED display
- Desktop calculators
- Pocket calculators
- AL-8, 8S; 803MR; Mem8R; MINI
- AL-10 (Fraction)
Other
Digital camera
- QV-Series
- WQV-Series
- EX-Series (Exilim)
- TRYX
PDA/DataBank
- Cassiopeia
- PV-Series (Pocket Viewer)
- SF-Series
- FX-Series
Electronic dictionary
Data and video projector
- XJ-S (Super Slim-Projectors)
|
System products
- POS systems
- Portable data terminals
Printing systems
- CD label printer
- Label printer
Musical instruments
- Casio PD-Synthesizer, Casio CZ-Synthesizer
- Casio VL-1
- 1987 DG-20 electronic guitar
- Electronic Musical Instruments
(Casiotone keyboards, Privia, Celviano, etc.)
Mobile Phones
Digital diaries (early PDA's: no longer produced) |
Headquarters
- 6-2, Hon-machi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8543, Japan