Casio

Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
カシオ計算機株式会社
Company type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 6952
Industry	Electronic engineering
Founded	1 June 1957; (Casio Computer Co., Ltd.); April 1946; (Kashio Seisakujo)
Headquarters	Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Kazuo Kashio (President); Hideaki Terada; (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Watches (includes G-Shock and Wave Ceptor ranges), clocks, electronic calculators, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, mobile phones
Revenue	$4.616 billion (2010)
Number of 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's world headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo

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.
1985 The FX-7000G, the world's first graphing calculator is released.
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(0.250 Mpix) that includes a TFT(1.8-inch color) display, is released.^[4]^[5]
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^[6]

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, electronic games, 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.^[7]

Watches

Notable ranges

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

Oceanus
- Smart Access Model
- Manta

Casio Sport
- Pro Trek ( Asia / Europe / Other Areas ) / Pathfinder ( USA / Canada )
- PHYS
- Sea-Pathfinder
Edifice
Baby-G
Classic
- Analog
- Digital
  - Casio F91W
Wave Ceptor

Calculators

Scientific calculators

2

Basic calculators

LCD display
- Desk calculators
- Pocket calculators
- Printing calculators
VFD (Digitron) / LED display (past)
- Desktop calculators
- Pocket calculators