1970's
09/09/2004
Oki begins to develop communication equipment
At the beginning of the 1970s, Oki's main exports were telecommunications systems to countries in the Middle East and over time, exports of telecommunications systems to Central and South American countries also gradually picked up. As a whole, Oki earned itself an excellent reputation overseas for producing quality work, although it had yet to embark upon the channel of individual product exportation, this was to follow.
Furthermore a great deal of progress was made in developing communications equipment with integrated electronic automatic exchange and information functions which saw the invention of the thermal-type facsimile for use with general telephone circuits.
1970
In the same year that IBM Corp. began
charging separately for hardware and software, Oki Electric
established a software department. Until then the various separate
divisions had been writing their own software. The two principle
aims of integrating the software operations: (1) to improve
efficiency by concentrating the software engineers in a single
division; and (2) to raise the overall engineering level of the
software.
1972
A newspaper publisher who visited the Oki Data Communications
Equipment Exhibition some time earlier in November 1972, was
unusually interested in the print head of a thermal printer on
display and later requested Oki Electric to develop a thermal-type
facsimile machine. This provided Oki with the incentive to produce
one utilizing a thermal head.
Oki launched the DP100 line printer as a peripheral for medium-size and smaller computers.
1974
As a result of the facsimile developments made in 1972 the
OKIFAX600 was delivered in 1974 when approximately 20 Japanese
companies were competing in the domestic market.
Oki developed an electronic switching system called the KC series. It entered the private sector in 1974 when it was installed in the Fuji Bank Business Centre and went on sale in 1977 and received a great deal of popularity in Japan. Following its popularity Oki developed a multi-function electronic switching system called OMNIPAX. An entirely original system, it was developed using equipment already widely used in Oki Electric terminals. OMNIPAX made it possible to construct leased line networks connecting telephones, facsimiles, and data communications inside companies. Its broad appeal was for users concerned with cost saving and rationalising measures in the backdrop of the long-term recession following the first oil crisis.
1976
Oki successfully established product superiority in the facsimile
market with the introduction of the digital OKIFAX 7100 which went
on sale in 1976. The product had unsurpassed high growth potential
due to its ease of use and low operating costs. The thermal-type
soon became `the' essential standard facsimile, used throughout the
world.
1977
After favorable sales in the US of
the DP100 line printer Oki gained additional confidence in this
arena which led to their resulting exportation across Europe. This
significant move marked the first export of complete printer units
to European countries.
Oki, realising the potential profit behind the export of single products to overseas markets went on to develop the serial impact dot matrix printer type MT100 teleprinter, boasting microprocessor control. This was subsequently exported to countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The latter made a fundamental contribution to the improved reputation overseas of products carrying the Oki brand.
1979
Oki had already gained a strong
reputation in the marketplace for its printing business and from
1979 onwards, printer exports to the US increased. This favourable
turn can be directly attributed to Oki's introduction of the
MICROLINE 80 at the National Computer Conference in New York City,
the world's largest industry trade conference (June 1979). The
model generated a great deal of attention at the show as this
impact type dot printer was half the size of its competitors while
still equaling the level of performance.
