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| Becomes No. 1 in the World in Timepieces As Well through the Quartz Revolution |
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The electric wave clock made from Casio Computer Co., Ltd. uses a detection IC excellent in sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio characteristic. Moreover, receiving algorithm (data analysis) is also optimized and receiving efficiency is gathered. |
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The timepieces sector, such as watches and clocks, also made rapid recovery triggered by the economic boom resulting from the Korean War. Production volume, which was 1.6 million units in 1947, nearly doubled to 3.06 million units in 1949. It fell temporarily in 1950 due to the effects of the Dodge Line (Dodge Plan), but in 1954, production volume exceeded pre-World War II levels and reached 5.6 million units. During Japan's period of high growth, the timepiece sector continued to grow, as with cameras, with a focus on exports. In terms of the domestic market, it went from 6.9 million units in 1960 to 10.1 million in 1964, becoming a mature market. Meanwhile, exports grew at an annual pace of over 80 percent from 1960 to 1966, and in 1972 the export ratio reached a whopping 66 percent.
A very big turning point for the Japanese timepiece industry, in terms of the advancement of its position in the world, was the changeover to quartz timepieces. In the 1960s, the development of electronic clocks that utilized electricity and electronic control to measure time were under development. |
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| It was in 1969 that Suwa Seikosha marketed the world's first quartz watch, an electronic watch controlled by quartz crystal oscillation. The age of quartz dawned in the world of timepieces. As a result of technological innovation - switching to quartz - and aggressive capital investment, Japan's timepiece industry secured a superior position in the late 1970s. In 1980, the volume of watches manufactured in Japan was 87.89 million units, surpassing the production volume of Switzerland. In clock production, too, the volume manufactured in Japan was 58.96 million units and surpassed West Germany. Japan became the world's top producer of timepieces. Technological innovation resulting from the switchover to quartz also resulted in advancing a reorganization of the industry. In 1974, Casio entered the market through digital timepieces. As the timepiece market began to saturate, companies such as Ricoh Tokei Co., Ltd. and Orient Watch Co., Ltd. lost ground. An oligopoly consisting of the Seiko Group, centering on Hattori Seiko Co., Ltd., Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. and Casio was created. |
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