1990's
09/09/2004
Oki develops its own LED (light emitting diode) technology
One of the major developments in the latter part of the 20th Century was the introduction of LED (light emitting diode) during the 1990s. Oki Electric realised that although it had outstanding technology for dot matrix printers the market demand was shifting clearly toward non-impact type printers. In that situation, it thus had to discover new technological advantages in the printer business. The company decided to use its own LED technology and to clearly differentiate its LED printers from laser beam systems. This has since resulted in Oki becoming the largest producer of LED chips in the world, enabling the company to create some of the most groundbreaking colour printers to date.
In Europe, the 1990s signified expansion. Oki purchased the data business division of Technitron Corp., which was a trading company specialising in information processing equipment. In doing so, it absorbed the sales subsidiaries of Technitron in seven European countries - Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. This new sales network covered 80% of printer sales in Europe, making it a fundamental turning point for Oki's position in the printer market and was to become the company's most phenomenal area of expansion and success to date.
1990
Oki were the first to introduce LED
technology to the European printer market in 1990 with the OL4000
mono printer.
Oki Europe Limited is established.
1996
LED technology enabled Oki to
transform the market again in 1996 with Oki 4W, because it allowed
this breakthrough printer to have a footprint size less than A4
without compromising on performance.
1998
Oki launched its first digital colour
printer incorporating LED and single pass technology - the OKIPAGE
8c. With colour print speeds twice as fast as its competitors, the
OKIPAGE 8c enabled Oki to enter the colour page printer market for
the first time.
