Epson’s involvement with miniprinters can be traced back to 1964 when the Seiko Group was named as the official timekeeper for the Tokyo Olympics. As part of this project, Suwa Seikosha, the forerunner of Epson, was given responsibility for developing a crystal chronometer for timekeeping and a printing timer. The printing timer proved to be the starting point for a business that is still going strong nearly 50 years later.
In 1988, twenty years after the launch of the EP-101, Epson proudly shipped its 100 millionth miniprinter. The 200 millionth came in 1999, with the 300 millionth coming in April this year.
President Minoru Usui leads the ceremony at Epson’s Matsumoto Minami Plant, the headquarters of the company’s Business Systems Operations Division.