- TOKYO, Japan, June 12, 2025 -

Seiko Epson Corporation (TSE: 6724, "Epson") is pleased to announce that the Epson brand will celebrate its 50th anniversary on June 12, 2025.

The longevity and success of the Epson brand was made possible through your support and loyalty to our products and services. In celebration of the 50th anniversary, we will revisit the meaning of the brand and strive to deliver surprise and delight that exceed our customers' expectations.

As a company, Epson traces its roots back to 1942 and the watchmaking industry. For more than eight decades, we have continued to advance the efficient, compact and precise technologies that we first developed for watches and that have become a part of the DNA that has been passed down from generation to generation. Leveraging these core technologies and adhering to the founding principles of "Integrity and Effort" and "Creativity and Challenge," we have continued to innovate, creating innumerable products and abundant value. Company sales have expanded along with our sales network, which spans the world, from the Americas to Asia, Europe, and other regions in between. Our network of manufacturing sites and service and support organizations has also expanded globally. Working closely with our sites around the world, we have expanded our customer base and earned deep trust along the way.

Epson launched its first information equipment product, the compact and lightweight EP-101 digital electronic printer, in 1968. It was this printer that served as the impetus for the creation of the Epson brand, in 1975. The brand name reflects the company's hopes of preserving the value of the electronic printer ("EP") while continuing to create many valuable derivatives ("SONs"). This brand embodies a desire to capitalize on our unique efficient, compact and precise technologies to deliver innovative products and services that provide value to people around the world.

<Printing Solutions>

This desire was realized with the launch of a compact and lightweight computer printer. Years of effort eventually culminated, in 1993, with the release of the MJ-500, an inkjet printer equipped with Epson's proprietary Micro Piezo ink ejection technology. The following year, Epson launched the MJ-700V2C, the world's first printer to deliver high-resolution (720 dpi) at an affordable price (less than 100,000 yen). Epson was thus instrumental in creating a new culture of printing high-quality photos at home. Later, in 2010, feedback from business users in emerging markets convinced us to develop and launch a printer equipped with high-capacity ink tanks.

Epson's high-capacity ink tank printers are currently sold in 170 countries and regions around the world, and cumulative sales have surpassed 100 million units¹.

Micro Piezo technology continued to evolve, with Epson developing next-generation printhead technology called "PrecisionCore." PrecisionCore has made it possible to develop a wide range of products, not only for the home and office but also for commercial and industrial applications. Our printheads are recognized for their outstanding quality and, in addition to Epson printers, are widely used in third-party printers, making Epson a leading supplier of printheads used in industrial inkjet machines.

For offices, the LX-10000F, a high-speed linehead inkjet multifunction printer released in 2017, delivers 100 sheets per minute. Blazing speed, outstanding durability, excellent maintainability, and the unequaled energy-efficiency of inkjet systems make it a compelling replacement for office laser printers.

In the commercial and industrial printing sectors, we entered the large-format printer market for professional graphic applications in 2000. Today, Epson is known as the standard inkjet printer for photographers and digital proof printing. The Monna Lisa 160B, a digital textile printing machine launched in 2003, has earned high praise from designers and the textile industry for its ability to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities, its low waste and small environmental footprint, and its ability to render details on fabrics. Furthermore, in 2010, as production shifted toward short-run print jobs and product life cycles shortened in industries such as food, beverages, and cosmetics, Epson launched the SurePress series of digital label presses to meet the diverse printing needs of the commercial and industrial sectors.

<Visual Communications>

The liquid crystal technology we initially developed for LCD watches found use in a new application: projectors. Our first projector was the VPJ-700, a compact full-color LCD video projector released in 1989. This was followed, in 1994, by the ELP-3000, which delivered triple the brightness of conventional models despite its compact and lightweight design. These projectors, coupled with a PC, gained wide use in business presentations.

At the heart of these and subsequent projectors are high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) panels, crucial devices that determine the performance of a projector. Epson's HTPS panels are produced using advanced microfabrication technology like that used in semiconductor fabrication. Its unique design structure enables bright images of exceptional quality.

In 2016, with further miniaturization of the optical engine and improved cooling performance, we launched a high-lumen laser projector, the EB-L25000U. This projector boasted 25,000 lumens of brightness, making it the world's brightness² 3LCD system with a laser light source.

Epson's business projectors have earned the top share in the global market³. They are widely used by professionals to create immersive productions that bring surprise and delight. Hundreds of units are used in interactive video productions as well as in projection mapping exhibitions, including one that washes cultural heritage site Matsumoto Castle in color.

<Manufacturing-Related and Wearables>

Since its founding, the company has worked to enhance the production efficiency of its first business - watch manufacturing - by streamlining design, introducing division of labor in assembly (belt-line system), and promoting automation, and we have also independently developed and introduced our own robots into manufacturing. In 1983, Epson launched the SSR-H Series, a horizontal articulated (SCARA-type) model with a compact size, high precision, and high-speed operation. Epson's SCARA robots are built as part of comprehensive factory automation (FA) systems that integrate various devices, controllers, and more. These systems are widely used as production equipment across a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, food and medical industries, etc. Thanks to their high performance, Epson has secured and maintained the world's top market share⁴ in terms of sales revenue in the industrial SCARA robot segment. By combining our robots with proprietary force sensors and camera-based image recognition technology, Epson has enabled its robots to perform delicate work that requires a human-like sense of touch. This technology responds to the needs of manufacturers, who have been seeing the pool of skilled workers decrease in recent years and who need to increase productivity. Epson is also accelerating the provision of solutions to a wider range of industries. In addition to manufacturing, Epson is enabling organizations in the life sciences and in research institutes to automate steps and processes that ordinarily require a human intervention.

We have always been driven by a spirit of creativity and challenge. In 1969, with the goal of providing more accurate timepieces, we developed the world's first commercial quartz watch. In 1982, we introduced a TV watch, and in 1988, we developed a self-winding quartz watch. Even today, we continue to develop and manufacture quartz watches and mainspring-driven watches that achieve high accuracy comparable to quartz watches. Meanwhile, Seiko Epson acquired mechanical watch manufacturer Orient Watch Company in 2009 and owns the Orient Star and Orient brands.

We also developed quartz crystal devices for the world's first quartz watch. Today, these tiny, low-power devices are used as high-accuracy timing devices in smartphones and wearable products as well as in applications that require precise measurement of position, attitude, and speed. This has led to their use in applications such as attitude control for tractors and drones in precision agriculture, as well as in communications base stations and products used to monitor aging infrastructure. Epson is one of the very few companies in the world that manufactures crystal devices from synthetic quartz crystals that it grows itself. We are also one of the top manufacturers of crystal oscillators in terms of sales revenue⁵.

Epson has established production and sales sites around the world in order to deliver value to customers through its products and services. Our overseas expansion began in 1968 with the manufacture of watch cases in Singapore. We have since expanded production globally and have major sites in China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These sites both strengthen cost competitiveness and improve our ability to respond to the needs of international markets.

On the other hand, we established our first overseas sales company in 1975, in the U.S. Epson America served as a strategic first step for responding to the rapidly growing computer market at the time and to accelerate global business development. Since then, Epson went on to build a strong global product sales network. Our sites on the front lines of sales and service can directly see and hear how our products are used locally. They can quickly identify local market needs so that we can tailor products to local needs. This network system that expands around the world will continue to support the development of Epson's products and services. In 2023, we established a sales company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to better serve and accelerate our expansion in the fast-growing emerging markets in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and surrounding markets.

Today, the company and the Epson brand are recognized around the world. This recognition has been earned largely as a result of a staunch commitment to advancing the efficient, compact and precise technologies that are an integral part of Epson's DNA. These technologies are being deployed in a diverse range of products. They are found in multifunction office printers, in large-format inkjet printers for advertisements, posters, photographic works and other professional graphic applications, and in digital textile printers - including ones used for articles appearing in the Paris Collection. They are also found in projectors, which have evolved from use in business presentations to use in major exhibitions and events. Meanwhile, robots are expanding their range of uses outside of manufacturing, and collaborative robots designed to work safely alongside humans are also being developed to automate steps and processes in the life sciences and in research institutes. Our crystal devices are used not only for timing control but also as crucial components in the attitude control of drones and agricultural machinery and in the monitoring of social infrastructure.

Our commitment to technology and to product development and manufacturing eventually bore fruit in the form of high-quality, reliable products that meet the professional requirements of people in various fields and that are now the first choice in professional settings. We have built a foundation of unwavering trust by developing products and solutions that address the needs of our customers around the world.

Drawing on our efficient, compact, and precise technologies, we at Epson have responded with integrity and effort to the voice of the customer and driven innovation with a spirit of creativity and challenge. As a company founded in Nagano, a place of rich natural beauty, Epson has also demonstrated a long-standing commitment to protecting the environment for future generations.

Going forward, we will continue to cherish and take pride in the Epson brand and will reward our customers and partners for their trust by living up to the corporate purpose:

"Our philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world."

Note: The product model names listed are the names used for products released in Japan at the time.

• ¹ As of the end of September 2024
• ² As of December 2015, for already released 3LCD projector products, per Epson research at the time of announcement
• ³ Share of projectors with 500 lumens or more, excluding screenless TV products, per FY2023 Futuresource Consulting Ltd.
• ⁴ "2025 Worldwide Robot-Related Market Status and Future Prospects FA Robots," (Shipments of industrial SCARA robots in 2024 based on revenue), Fuji Keizai Co., Ltd.
• ⁵ Based on the 2023 issue of QYRESEARCH's Global Timing Device Market Report, per Epson's research

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