is a Japanese
multinational corporation
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
, headquartered in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, producing
electronic device
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
s, including
switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
es,
potentiometer
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
The measuring instrume ...
s,
sensor
A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon.
In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
s, encoders and
touchpad
A touchpad or trackpad is a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on the operating system that is made output to the screen. Touchp ...
s.
The company was established in 1948 as Kataoka Electric Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Alps Electric Co., Ltd. in December 1964. Since June 22, 2012, the President has been Toshihiro Kuriyama and Chairman is Masataka Kataoka.
Alps is also well known for the
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
brand of
car audio
Vehicle audio is equipment installed in a car or other vehicle to provide in-car entertainment and information for the vehicle occupants. Until the 1950s it consisted of a simple AM radio. Additions since then have included FM radio (1952), 8 ...
.
The Alps Electric Group has R&D, production and sales bases located in Japan and around the globe—in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Greater China. Since its founding, Alps Electric has supplied around 40,000 types of electronic components to over 2,000 manufacturers of home appliances, mobile devices, automobiles and industrial equipment worldwide.
Alps Group comprises 84
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
companies, 25 through Alps Electric, 32 through Alpine Electronics and 27 through Alps Logistics.
The company is listed on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange
The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...
and a constituent of the
Nikkei 225
The Nikkei 225, or , more commonly called the ''Nikkei'' or the ''Nikkei index'' (), is a stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the '' Nihon Keizai Shimbun'' (''The Nikkei'') newspaper since 1950 ...
stock index
In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures a stock market, or a subset of the stock market, that helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market performance.
Two of the pri ...
.
The company changed company name to Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. in January 2019.
Business divisions
Alps Automotive division focuses on provision of custom products and modules, including control panels and steering modules, for specific vehicle models, and components compatible with any vehicle.
Alps Home and Mobile divisions focuses on provision of switches, potentiometers, sensors, and other components through to multi-input devices like touch panels and GlidePoint™ to home, mobile and PC markets. Alps Electric focuses on human-machine and machine-machine interfaces for home appliances, mobile devices and PCs.
Alps Industry, Healthcare & Energy divisions focuses on provision of a wide variety of products, including sensors, power inductors, switches and communication modules, to industry, healthcare and energy markets.
Alps touchpad hardware is developed and manufactured by the
Cirque Corporation
Cirque Corporation is an American company which developed and commercialized the first successful capacitive touchpad, now widely used in notebook computers. Cirque develops and sells a variety of touch input products, both in original equipmen ...
, which they acquired in 2003;
however, the parent company continues to write their own drivers. Their drivers are
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
certified. They are mostly found in
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
,
Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
and
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
notebooks
A notebook is a small book often used for writing.
Notebook or The Notebook may also refer to:
Computing
*Laptop, a type of personal computer
*Google Notebook, a discontinued online application
* Notebook interface, a type of programming environ ...
, as well as the
OLPC XO-1
The OLPC XO (formerly known as $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, 2B1) is a low cost laptop computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to " ...
. They also manufacture keyboards for Apple computers, including the original Macintosh and the first
iMac
iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.
In it ...
.
Business integration and name change
On January 1, 2019, Alps Electric Co., Ltd. and Alpine Electronics, Inc. integrated the two businesses together under the new name of Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.. Alpine Electronics, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alps in 1978 when Alps acquired all shares of Alps Motorola Inc.
Gallery
File:Apple IIc (ALPS taxi yellow) 8053557256 2edb8a7843 o.jpg, Alps Amber switch in an Apple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, is Apple Computer's first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to pl ...
keyboard
File:Alps SKBM Grey -- top.jpg, Alps SKBM Grey switch
File:Alps SKBM Grey -- base.jpg, Alps SKBM Grey switch backside with old logo
File:Alps SKBM Grey -- upper shell.jpg, Alps SKBM Grey — upper shell with simplified mould numbering and more rounded, more heavily embossed Alps logo
File:Alps SKCM Orange -- fully disassembled.jpg, Alps SKCM Orange switch, completely disassembled
See also
*
List of mechanical keyboards
Mechanical keyboards (or mechanical-switch keyboards) are computer keyboard
A computer keyboard is a peripheral input device modeled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys to act as mechanical levers or ...
*
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
References
External links
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on Alps Electric
{{Authority control
Electronics companies of Japan
Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Manufacturing companies established in 1948
Japanese brands