is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

s, mobile phones, digital cameras,

electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...

s, and analogue and

digital watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

es. It was founded in 1946, and in 1957 introduced the world's first entirely compact electronic calculator. It was an early digital camera innovator, and during the 1980s and 1990s, the company developed numerous affordable home electronic keyboards for musicians along with introducing the world's first mass-produced digital watches.

History

Casio was established as Kashio Seisakujo in April 1946 by Tadao Kashio ( 樫尾忠雄 1917–1993), an engineer specializing in fabrication technology. Kashio's first major product was the yubiwa pipe, a finger ring that would hold a

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

, 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 Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

, Tokyo in 1949, Kashio and his younger brothers (Toshio, Kazuo, and Yukio) used their profits from the yubiwa pipe to develop their 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). Toshio possessed some knowledge of electronics and set out to make a calculator using

solenoid upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whose ...

s. After dozens of prototypes were tested, the desk-sized calculator was finished in 1954 and was Japan's first electro-mechanical calculator. One of the central and more important 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 distinguishing 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. Casio Computer Co., Ltd. was formed in June 1957. That year, Casio released the Model 14-A, sold for 485,000 yen, the world's first all-electric compact calculator, which was based on relay technology. In 1974, Casio released their first digital wristwatch, called the CASIOTRON. It was the first wristwatch in the world to include an automatic calender function. In 1977, they released a retro-futuristic wristwatch, called the F100. The watch was one of the first wristwatches in the world to be made primarily out of resin, making it very light compared to other companies' heavy metal-made watches and enabling future Casio watches to enter

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

more easily. In 1989, Casio released another important wristwatch; the F-91W, the most sold wristwatch in the worldwith an annual producion of 3 million units. In the 1980s, Casio's budget electronic instruments and its line of affordable home electronic musical keyboard instruments became popular. 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. Casio also introduced one of the first watches that could display the time in many different time zones of the world and with features like recording temperature, atmospheric-pressure and altitude. In the later years, Casio's wristwatches were fitted with receivers to synchronise with radio towers around the world and

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

for timekeeping accuracy. A number of notable digital camera innovations have also been made by Casio, including the QV-10, the first consumer digital camera with a

liquid-crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipmen ...

(LCD) on the back (developed by a team led by Hiroyuki Suetaka in 1995), the first consumer three-megapixel camera, the first true ultra-compact model, and the first digital camera to incorporate ceramic lens technology, using Lumicera.

Controversies

In July 2019, the company's UK arm, Casio Electronics Co. Ltd, was fined £3.7 million after admitting resale price maintenance (a form of price-fixing) on their line of

digital keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

s and

digital pianos A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emulat ...

between 2013 and 2018, in breach of the United Kingdom's Competition Act 1998.

Products

Casio's products include watches,

s, electronic keyboards and other digital products such as digital cameras ( Exilim series),

film camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie s ...

s, cash registers,

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s and sub-notebook computers, mobile phones, PDAs (E-Data Bank),

electronic dictionaries An electronic dictionary is a dictionary whose data exists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media. Electronic dictionaries can be found in several forms, including software installed on tablet or desktop computers ...

, digital diaries (early PDAs), electronic games,

computer printer In computing, a printer is a peripheral machine which makes a persistent representation of graphics or text, usually on paper. While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example of an expanded use for printers. Differ ...

s, clocks, and portable televisions. In the 1970s and 80s, Casio was best known for its electronic (including scientific) calculators, electronic musical instruments and affordable digital watches incorporating innovative technology. Today, Casio is most commonly known for making durable and reliable electronic products.Review
Casio:History
/ref> The G-Shock range of shock-resistant watches is also very popular, with the original 1983 G-Shock DW-5000C being highly sought-after by collectors. The scientific calculators made by Casio especially the CLASSWIZ series of calculators are known for being affordable while incorporating a host of functions as compared to their competitors. Casio also makes products for local markets, including "Prayer Compass" watch series designed to help Muslims pray on time and in the right direction.

Gallery

File:CASIO electronic dictionary EV-SP3900.jpg, Casio EV-SP3900 Electronic dictionary File:Cassiopeia 26d06.jpg, Cassiopeia

PDA PDA may refer to: Science and technology * Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books *Personal digital assistant, a mobile device * Photodiode array, a type of detector * Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...

File:QV-10.jpg, QV-10 Digital camera File:Casio EX-S600 front.jpg, EX-S600 Digital camera File:Au W31CA CASIO gif-anime1.gif, Au W31CA Mobile phone File:Casio V.P.A.M. fx-570s.jpg, Casio V.P.A.M. fx-570S Scientific calculator File:Casio fx-102 (1976).jpg, Casio fx-102 (1976) File:Casio fx-570MS.jpg, Casio fx-570MS File:Casio calculator JF-120VB in 201804.jpg, Casio JF-120VB desk calculator File:Casio-fx115ES-5564.jpg, Casio fx-115ES Scientific calculator with Natural Display File:FC-100V.jpg, FC-100V financial calculator File:Casio fx-7000G FullLength.JPG,

Casio fx-7000G The Casio FX-7000G is a calculator which is widely known as being the world's first graphing calculator available to the public. It was introduced to the public and later manufactured between 1985 and c. 1988. Notable features are its ability to ...

, the world's first graphing calculator File:FR-2650T.jpg, FR-2650T calculator with printer for checkout File:CASIO NAME LAND KL-P7.JPG, NAME LAND KL-P7 File:Casio-FA11.jpg, PB-770 pocket computer, with FA-11 extension dock File:Casio Digital Diary SF-R20 open.JPG, SF-R20 Digital Diary (early PDA) File:Watch and calculator.jpg, TS-150 watch (left) and FX-991EX scientific calculator (right) File:Casio Sport outgear SGW-400HD-1BV.jpg, Casio Sport OutGear SGW-400HD-1BV File:Casio F-91W 5051.jpg, Casio F-91W Digital watch File:Casio wmp1 docking station.JPG, Casio WMP1 portable MP3 watch File:Casio G-Shock DW-5600E wristwatch.jpg,

DW-5600E The G-Shock is a line of watches manufactured by the Japanese electronics company Casio, designed to resist mechanical stress, shock and vibration. G-Shock is an abbreviation for ''Gravitational Shock''. The watches in the G-Shock line are desi ...

-1V A G-Shock watch with one of the first electroluminescent backlights File:Casio EF-518.png, Casio Edifice EF-518 watch File:CASIO ATC-1100 (2058507659).jpg, Casio ATC-1100 Triple Sensor Watch File:Casio PRW-1000TJ 01.JPG, Pro Trek PRW-1000TJ Triple Sensor Watch in compass mode File:Twincept.jpg, Casio PRT-505 "TwinCept" watch File:Casio G-Shock Master of G Rangeman GW-9400J-1JF.jpg, Casio G-Shock GW9400 Rangeman watch with triple sensors and tough solar technology File:Casio Tough Solar Wave Ceptor.jpg, Casio Tough Solar "Wave Ceptor" watch File:Casio vl tone.jpg, VL-Tone VL-1 File:Casio SK-1.jpg, Sampletone SK-1 File:Casiotone 201.jpg, Casiotone 201 File:Casio CZ-1.jpg, CZ-1 digital synthesizer File:Casio az1.jpg, AZ-1

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

File:Casio PG-380 synth guitar.jpg, PG-380 MIDI Guitar File:CASIO DH-800.jpg, DH-800 Digital Horn File:Casio CTK-496 keyboard.jpg, CTK-496 home keyboard File:Casio WK-200 details 1.jpg, WK-200 workstation keyboard File:Casio Privia PX-130.jpg, Privia PX-130 digital piano File:Casio Celviano AP620.jpg, Casio Celviano AP-620 File:Casio fx-280 Scientific Calculator.jpg, Casio fx-280 Scientific Calculator File:Casio Privia PX-330.jpg, Casio Privia PX-330 File:Edifice ECB-800D-1A.jpg, Edifice ECB-800D-1A

References

External links