EPSON/TOYOCOM

The History of Epson Crystal Devices
Crystal devices quietly mark the passage of time in everything from TVs to computers and wristwatches. They have grown to become an indispensable fixture in the electronics industry, so much so that the Japanese refer to them as "the salt of industry." As a leading manufacturer of crystal devices, Epson has continuously driven advances in device power savings, miniaturization, and performance. Epson encapsulates its philosophy of innovation with the words "efficient, compact and precise." This approach is embedded in Epson DNA. It is what enables us to continue to develop ever-smaller devices that consume less power yet provide superior performance. This is a brief history of Epson Crystal Devices.

1891
Yoshimura Shokai, the predecessor entity, is established.
1938
Toyo Wireless Telegraph and Telephone, which succeeded Yoshimura Shokai, merged with Meisho Electric to establish Toyo Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.
1942
Daiwa Kogyo, Ltd., the predecessor of Seiko Epson, is established.
1943
Daini Seikosha, the watch manufacturing division of Hattori Tokeiten, is established.
A factory is established in the city of Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, to escape the air raids of WWII.
1959
The first industrial synthetic crystals to be grown in Japan Daini Seikosha's Suwa factory and Daiwa Kogyo merge to establish Suwa Seikosha.
1969
Development of the world's first commercially available quartz wristwatch

1971
Advent of a smaller crystal unit that consumes less power

1973
Crystal unit further miniaturized and 32.768 kHz becomes the de facto standard vibration frequency Development of a thin, flat tuning-fork crystal unit for simple mounting.
The world's first wristwatch with a six-digit LCD display

1975
Photolithography for further component downsizing and higher precision.
Sales launched of the first tuning-fork crystal units produced using photolithography

1980
Sales of crystal oscillators integrating Epson crystals and semiconductors launched

1983
RTC module with a built-in crystal unit

1983
Temperature compensated crystal oscillator (TCXO) used in early cell phones

1984
SAW filters launched to market

1986
The first commercial cylinder-type AT crystal units and AT crystal oscillators

1987
The industry's first surface-mount clock oscillator

1997
Programmable high-frequency crystal oscillators

2005
Epson Toyocom formed by merging Seiko Epson's and Toyocom's crystal device businesses.
Quartz gyroscopic sensors adopted for image stabilization applications in digital SLR cameras

2009
Epson Toyocom becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Seiko Epson.
2011
Development of one of the world's smallest*1 IMUs*2 with among the lowest power consumption

2012
Certain operations of Epson Toyocom are split off and absorbed by Epson.
After 2020
Advances in IoT, 5G, automated driving, etc., and the growing severity of societal issues