Cartridge Monkey

The history of Seiko Epson

Friday 01 June, 2007

Established in Japan in 1942 as Daiwa Kogyo, Seiko Epson is an electronics firm with its headquarters in Suwa in Nagano in Japan. The firm was initially founded by Hisao Yamazaki as an enterprise specialising in the manufacture of wristwatch components, before merging with a nearby factory belonging to Daini Seikosha in 1959, leading to the rebranding of the company as Suwa Seikosha. However, the name Epson was not to arrive until 1975, with the release of the revised EP-101 printer - which had been released to the market in 1968; the name Epson literally implies Son of EP and had been created by Shinshu Seiki, a subsidiary of Suwa Seikosha established in 1961 by the firm.

However, it was not until 1985 that the company would become known as the Seiko Epson Corporation, a change that was preceded by the earlier renaming of Shinshu Seiki as the Epson Corporation.

"In the early 1960s, Seiko Epson was established to develop crystal chronometers and printing timers for official timekeeping at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Based on those technologies, the company introduced the world's first commercially successful printer mechanism four years later," said Epson.

"Today, Epson delivers a vast array of high-quality technology products that are compact, reliable, easy to use, energy- and cost-efficient," the company added.

Although Epson is arguably best known for its range of printers - that include models such as the Epson Stylus Photo R1800, the Epson PictureMate 240 and the Epson Stylus Photo R265 - and printer cartridges, the company also manufacturers a range of other products that includes customer displays, kiosk solutions such as the EU-T432 and dot matrix printers, which Epson asserts are ideal for tasks such as draft printing, in addition to the processing of large quantities of data.

This month will see the launch of the new Stylus D92 printer; a machine that has been described as a budget model and carries a retail price of £39.99. According to StudioLighting.net, the D92 is "an entry level home printer for everyday printing of photos and A4-sized documents" with a resolution of 5,760dpi.

Indeed, Seiko Epson has a number of other products within its historical portfolio, which it believes to be landmarks within the company's history amid claims that "from its beginnings as a maker of watches and precision instruments to its diversification into imaging, Epson has made history over the years". This range of legacy products is comprised of products that include the Seiko Marvel watch - released in 1956 - and the 1963 release of the Seiko Crystal Chronometer QC-951, products that predate the company's release of the EP-101 printer and the world's first television watch in 1982.

Whatever direction the company takes in the future, Epson believes in the importance of tackling any arising issues in a flexible fashion, while at the same time maintaining an awareness of the market trends of the present and the future. Indeed, the company's core philosophy is one of achieving in a state of togetherness, after starting in a such a state.

"Epson believes that employees maintaining such attitudes over a prolonged period will drive the company to the next stage of growth. Epson will continue to change and develop and will create a business structure that will allow it to flourish in today's challenging environment," the company asserts.

Indeed, as part of its strategy of meeting its core philosophy, Epson believes that individual employees should be "forward-thinking leaders" and never relinquish their desire to be the best that they can be.

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The history of Seiko Epson

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