80 Year Journey Chapter 5

Epson emerged from nature's magnificence along the shores of Lake Suwa.

Our connection to this ecosystem drives our business. Technologies that propel the development of innovative new products must contribute to a thriving environment. Epson's unique, efficient, compact, and precision technologies represent this philosophy. It's in our DNA. Our history of creativity and challenges originated from assembling watch components, leading to the development of technologies responsible for many world-first products.

From printers and projectors to robots and wearables, our technologies improve life worldwide. In 2022, we at Epson celebrate our 80th anniversary. We promise to continue to serve society and our planet, creating a sustainable future that enriches people's lives everywhere.

Yasunori Ogawa

President and CEO

Seiko Epson Corporation

Seiko Epson Corporation celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2022. We would like to express sincere gratitude to our many customers and stakeholders for their support.

Located near the shore of Lake Suwa, Epson embarked on its journey as a watch parts manufacturer. The company's founder pledged never to pollute Lake Suwa, and we continue to honor his pledge to this day.

We at Epson have always exercised creativity and challenged ourselves to deliver products and services that exceed the expectations of our customers around the world by drawing on the efficient, compact, and precision technologies we have developed and refined since the company was founded in 1942.

In March 2021, we updated our corporate vision, Epson 25, and are now operating under Epson 25 Renewed, which defines "achieving sustainability and enriching communities" as our aspirational goal. In the past, we sought to use our strong technologies to create innovative products. Going forward, we will also look to wield our technologies to solve societal issues, focusing particularly on overcoming global environmental challenges.

I believe that our purpose as a company is to contribute to society and to employee happiness. I also believe that the two are inseparable. Taking care of our employees and contributing to society will generate confidence and pride internally that will drive us to further contribute to society.

We will continue to work together with our many stakeholders to solve societal issues, achieve sustainability, and improve the quality of life around the world.

Always, and forever, with you.

The first digital printer, the EP-101, brought new value to the world.
EPSON
Our name, EPSON, reflects our desire to create printers that follow in the footsteps of the EP-101. Children of the EP or EP SONs. Since then, we have delivered many of these children into the world, not only in Japan.

We planted the roots for a culture of home photo printing and created a culture of large-screen office presentations. However, beyond every summit lies more. Aspirations aren't things to be decided by others. They are ours to decide.

Regardless of the era, we must forge forward. At home, in the office, in commerce and industry, everywhere, we must take the challenge to close resource loops and add new value to what has been used. We use what we need, when we need it, and only the amount needed. We emerged from Suwa, Nagano. As our predecessors opened the way to a new world, we too will pioneer a path to the future, achieving sustainability and enriching communities.

Solutions on a global scale to reach as many people as possible.

Epson's vision is to use new technologies to solve the world's problems and make dreams come true.

In 1975, we established the Epson brand with an aspiration to develop new printers and other information equipment and to enter the global market. The brand name reflects our desire to continue to create many products and services, or the “sons” of the EP in a variety of fields, just as the EP-101 digital printer, which was a huge hit, provided new value to our customers.

This same year, we established our first overseas sales office, Epson America, Inc. Today, Epson has a worldwide sales network and delivers products to people all around the globe.

Printing innovation began with the EP-101 led to the Epson Stylus Color, the world's first color inkjet printer. Delivering 720 dpi resolution, this product established the home color and photo printing culture. In 1989, we launched the VPJ-700 LCD projector, and since then, we've created and fostered a large-screen presentation culture that uses projectors. Today, Epson's realm of expertise extends beyond printing and projection. Our innovations have revolutionized manufacturing. Our sensing technology enhances lives. Our research is spawning solutions for environmental issues. Epson delivers new value to the world.

Printing Innovations

Epson began developing one of its core businesses, inkjet printers, in 1978, using piezo technology for printer heads — the key technology in Epson's inkjet printers. The method doesn't use heat to eject ink, so the printheads are more durable and maintain superior performance for far longer. Advancements in piezo technology led to PrecisionCore printhead technology, which delivers stunning image quality at substantially higher speeds while consuming little power. This core technology enables a wide range of applications in home, office and industrial and commercial settings.

Our Technology

Piezo method at the start of printing innovation The continuous evolution in technology and societal contribution

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Projection Innovations

By developing microdisplay technology, we gave the world an innovation that is indispensable for recreating true and vivid color images. However, this arm of our business ran into trouble, and at one point, was in jeopardy of failing. Market research helped us navigate these difficult waters. We visited customers around the world looking for problems in their fields and found new ways to solve them with innovation.

We developed projectors that deliver large images offering both high quality and high definition that are easy to see from any angle. Today, our projectors are used in offices, homes, education, and even digital art through projection mapping, providing excitement and surprises to many people.

Our Technology

Breakthrough after relentless market research and steady efforts:
Looking back at the history of visual innovation

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Innovation to Reduce Environmental Impact

As a leading printing company, we looked for solutions to paper waste after printing.

The fruit of our pursuit was the “PaperLab”.
PaperLab is the world's first (Note1) dry process office papermaking system that can produce new paper from used paper using virtually no water (Note2). We exhibited the system at Eco-Products 2015, the International Exhibition on Environment and Energy, creating a big hit with the public.

The PaperLab is equipped with "Dry Fiber Technology," which turns paper into fibers by impact force without the use of water. It helps to build a small cycle of paper recycling, enabling recycling and use of paper in places like the office, for example.

Our concept of this cycle is not “recycling. It's “upcycling”, a way of adding new value. Currently, we are pursuing the application and evolution of "Dry Fiber Technology" to materials other than paper, together with a wide range of co-creation partners.

We will continue our efforts to deliver new value to the world toward achieving sustainability and enriching communities.

Note1: Among all dry process office papermaking systems. Source: Epson's research conducted in November 2016
Note2: A small amount of water is used to maintain humidity inside the system.

Our Technology

Innovations that envision the future:
Dry Fiber Technology

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Yasunori Ogawa

The Epson Journey

Chapter 5 - The Spirit of Creativity and Challenge Lives On.

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