Company History & Milestones

 

1942 - 1969

 

May 1942

Daiwa Kogyo Ltd. (the predecessor of Seiko Epson Corporation) is established on the shore of Lake Suwa in Nagano, Japan.

 

1963

The world's first portable, high-accuracy, battery-operated quartz timer, the Seiko Crystal Chronometer QC-951, was developed.

 

 

 

Sept 1968

EP-101, the world's first miniprinter, is launched, from which the Epson brand was later born.

 

 

 

1969

The world’s first quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ, was released and it revolutionized horology.

1970 - 1989

 

1975

In 1975, Epson (Son of EP or Electronic Printer) was formally established as the next generation of printers based on the EP-101.

 

1977

The debut of the Epson EX-1, a dedicated accounting computer billed as the world's smallest office computer.

1980

MX-80 serial impact printer is introduced and becomes the "de-facto" industry standard for dot matrix printers. It was the first printer that could be connected directly to a computer.

1982

The world's first hand-held computer, the HX-20, was created and became an astonishing bestseller, with one-quarter of a million units sold.

1982

The first television watch is introduced and is recognized by the 1984 Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest and lightest television.

1983

The SSR-H series of industrial robots was released and was Epson's first SCARA robot sold commercially. It is widely used for assembling watches and printers, and for packaging semiconductors.

1984

ET-10, the Televian, the world's first commercialised liquid crystal colour TV was released.

1984

The SQ-2000, Epson's first commercial inkjet printer is released - the original inkjet printer.

1985

Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd. and Epson Corporation merge to establish Seiko Epson Corporation.

1987

The SG-615 plastic SMD crystal oscillator is introduced and becomes the industry standard.

1989

The first Epson 3LCD projector, the VPJ-700, is introduced - one of the world's first compact, full colour, liquid crystal video projector.

1990 - 2009

1993

Epson introduces the Stylus 800, the first inkjet printer equipped with revolutionary MicroPiezo technology.

1994

Epson successfully develops the Epson Stylus Color inkjet printer, the world's first printer to offer 16 million color combinations at 720dpi.

1994

Epson revolutionizes data projection with its acclaimed compact, high brightness, and high resolution projector, the ELP-3000, offering brightness at 3 times the level of its competition.

1996

Epson develops the six-color, photo quality printer, the Epson Stylus Color Photo, bringing unprecedented photo-quality output and printing speed to consumers.

1998

An Epson color inkjet printer is selected by NASA for STS-95 mission - the Epson Stylus Color 800.

1998

The TM-H5000, Epson's first hybrid printer is released. Featuring fast, quiet printing and copy functionality.

2003

The Monna Lisa, an industrial inkjet digital textile printer, is jointly developed by Epson and the leading Italian textile manufacturing equipment manufacturer Robustelli.

2005

The EMP-TWD1, a 1,200-lumen projector is introduced and is capable of projecting crisp images even in bright spaces. It is also equipped with a built-in, high-definition DVD player.

2008

Epson enters the sheet-fed document scanner market with the launch of the affordable and compact GT-S50 and GT-S80 desktop scanners.

2010 - Present

2010

The industrial inkjet digital label press SurePress L-4033A enters the market and is the first product to apply MicroPiezo technology to industrial label printing.

2010

Epson introduced the L-series, the first ink tank system printer in Southeast Asia, and also the world’s first printer to use high-capacity ink tanks instead of ink cartridges. This drastically reduces printing costs.

2010

Epson introduces world's first 3LCD Ultrashort Throw Interactive Projector, the EB-450Wi Series.

2011

The TM-T88V-i series of receipt printers is introduced – allowing wireless printing from any computer, smartphone or tablet, regardless of the operating system.

2012

Epson introduces Moverio Smart Glasses, the world's first Android-based, see-through wearable display.

2013

Epson introduces the SureColor F2000 Direct to Garment Printer.

2013

Epson Announces PrecisionCore™, a new printhead technology that merges Epson's expertise in high-precision MEMS manufacturing with breakthroughs in material science.

2014

Epson introduces world’s First 3LCD Finger Touch Enabled Interactive projector.

2015

Epson unveils the new WorkForce Pro Series powered by PrecisionCore®. These groundbreaking business all-in-ones and printers for office printing featuring innovative printhead technology for performance beyond laser.

2015

Epson introduces the revolutionary high-volume Replaceable Ink Pack System (RIPS) printers for offices that delivers up to 75,000 pages of printing before replacing the ink.

 

2016

Epson launches world's first 3LCD 25,000 lumens laser projector, the EB-L25000U.

 

2017

Epson launches breakthrough 100ppm high-speed linehead inkjet Multi-Function Printer for enterprises.