Casio Sells One Billionth Electronic Calculator

Casio Sells One Billionth Electronic Calculator Long History of Contribution to the Development of the Electronics Industry and Mathematics Education

Key products in Casio's calculator history (1) 001(1965)  (2) Casio Mini(1972)  (3) SL-800(1983)  (4) fx-7000G(1985)  (5) fx-9860G(2005)

Tokyo, January 9, 2007 — Casio Computer Co., Ltd., announced today that its total worldwide sales of electronic calculators passed the one billion mark at the end of December 2006. The company’s first electronic calculator, the 001, went on sale in 1965. "The fact that we have been able to sell one billion calculators is a sign of the confidence that consumers around the world place in Casio products, and I would like to express my sincere appreciation for this support," said Kazuo Kashio, President and CEO of Casio Computer Co., Ltd. "Using the technology and experience we gained through calculator development, Casio has grown beyond calculators into new markets for watches, electronic dictionaries, digital cameras, and mobile phones. Today, as our way of contributing to society, we continue to create innovative products and technology that makes life more enjoyable." In the course of reaching this milestone, Casio contributed to the development of the electronics industry by creating great demand for LSI chips, a key component of electronic calculators, as well as to education in mathematics through the development of scientific calculators. Casio calculators are now used in many countries worldwide. • A Record of Creative Development   Casio Computer Co., Ltd., was established in 1957 with the successful development of the world’s first fully electric compact relay calculator, the Casio 14-A, which used electric relays in place of the mechanical gears which were the norm at the time. In the fifty years since then, Casio has remained at the forefront of calculator development. Building on the technology developed to create the 14-A, Casio launched the 001 in 1965, the world’s first electronic calculator with a memory function. In 1972, the company created the world’s first personal calculator, the Casio Mini. Subsequently, Casio launched the first scientific calculator to incorporate a graphing function, in 1985. • A Record of Contribution   Casio has persistently made useful contributions to society by developing new calculators. 1972’s Casio Mini made calculators affordable and accessible to individual consumers for the first time, and the scientific calculator, another Casio first, is now an indispensable tool in classrooms all over the world. People in over 120 countries now use Casio calculators. The great demand for LSI chips for use in calculators was driven by Casio and has also spurred the development of higher density LSIs contributing greatly to the overall development of the semiconductor and electronics industries. Casio’s 14-A relay calculator is on display at the National Science Museum in Japan, as a key product in the history of the development of the calculator. A 0.8-mm card calculator, the SL-800, has been preserved for all time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as an item possessing both a superior design and practicality that should be passed on to future generations. An example of the fx-7000G, an early handheld graphing calculator, is held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in the United States.

The Road to One Billion Calculators

• From the relay calculator to the electronic calculator   Launched in 1957, Casio’s 14-A calculator was a revolutionary new device using 342 electric relays that solved addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems up to 14 digits. In September 1965, Casio released the 001, the world’s first electronic calculator with a memory function. The following year, Casio commenced exports to the United States and Europe, taking its first step as a manufacturer for the global market. Casio calculators were well received around the world, and total production reached the 100,000 mark by 1969. • Casio Mini creates demand among individual users   In the latter half of the 1960s, there was a surge in the number of new manufacturers entering the calculator market. At its peak there were more than 50 manufacturers competing with each other, and the phrase “calculator wars” was coined. The competition, however, was confined to the limited market for calculators used in the office. In August 1972, Casio released the Casio Mini, which was sold for the then-revolutionary price of only 12,800 yen, in order to be affordable to the general public. The Casio Mini was a huge hit selling 1 million units in ten months. • Card-sized calculator ends competition for smaller and thinner products   With the huge popularity of the Casio Mini, Casio’s cumulative sales of calculators reached the one million-unit mark in 1972, and skyrocketed to two million that very same year. Casio’s worldwide calculator sales reached 10 million in 1974. This was the turning point — from here on price competition among calculator makers reached a climax, with one company after another withdrawing from the market. Next, the market saw fierce competition to develop smaller and thinner products. In 1983, Casio developed the SL-800, which at 0.8 mm was as thin as a credit card. This put an end to the “smaller and thinner” race. The total number of all calculators sold by Casio reached 100 million units in 1980. • Casio calculators continue to improve   After Casio achieved the ultimate in thinness with the SL-800, changes in product trends led to a focus on functionality. In 1985, Casio developed the fx-7000G, the first scientific calculator to incorporate a graphing function. In 2004, the company developed a scientific calculator capable of displaying fractions, square roots, and other symbols as they are shown in textbooks. Casio continues to produce innovative products to this day and as of December 31, 2006, Casio had sold one billion calculators.

Milestones Notes 1957 Launch of the 14-A, the world’s first fully electric compact relay calculator On display at the National Science Museum in Japan 1965 Began sales of electronic calculators Launch of the 001, the world’s first electronic calculator with memory function ★ 1969 Casio’s total global calculator sales reach 100,000   1972 Casio Mini, the world’s first personal calculator, is launched Casio’s total global sales of calculators pass the 1 million and then 2 million marks ★ 1974 Casio’s total global calculator sales reach 10 million   1976 Launch of the Denkuro, combination calculator with clock function ★ 1980 Casio’s total global calculator sales reach 100 million   1983 Launch of the SL-800, a 0.8-mm thin credit card size calculator Archived at the Museum of Modern Art, New York ★ 1985 Launch of the fx-7000G, the world’s first graphing scientific calculator Archived at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.★ 2004 Launch of the fx-82ES, the first scientific calculator with natural mathematic display   2005 Launch of the fx-9860G scientific calculator featuring graphing and natural mathematical display   2006 Casio’s total global sales reach 1 billion calculators

★ Registered as important historical materials in Japanese industrial technology by the National Science Museum in Japan (archived at Casio Computer Co., Ltd.)