Toshiba Corporation's roots in technology and innovation go all the way back to the Tanaka Engineering Works, Japan’s first manufacturer of telegraphic equipment. Tanaka Engineering Works was founded by Hisashige Tanaka in 1875. The company grew to become one of Japan's largest producers of heavy electrical machinery, and continued to realize his dream of developing technologies that would benefit people everywhere (for more information on our heritage, please visit theToshiba Spirit web site). Today, Toshiba Corporation spends approximately six percent of its gross annual sales on research and development, allowing it to introduce many innovative and beneficial "firsts."
Our Heritage: Toshiba World First's
| 1964: |
Completed one of the world's largest centralized remote-control monitoring systems at electricity substations for Japanese "bullet trains." |
| 1967: |
Completed automatic zip code reader. |
| 1970: |
Developed color videophone. |
| 1971: |
Released expanded IC color televisions. |
| 1972: |
Released color TV with black stripe-type cathode-ray tubes. |
| 1979: |
Completed optical disc-based data filing systems. |
| 1984: |
Flash memory. |
| 1985: |
Launched clamshell-type IBM-compatible Laptop PC. |
| 1991: |
Developed four-megabit NAND-type EEPROM. |
| 1992: |
Developed 16-megabit NAND-type EEPROM. |
| 1993: |
Produced prototype of world's smallest MOS transistor, with a gate length of 0.04 microns. |
| 1995: |
Commercialized microfilter cathode ray tubes with a filter incorporating the three primary colors. |
| 1998: |
Developed MPEG 4 graphical data compression and expansion LSI. |
| 1999: |
Developed CPU for the Sony PlayStation®2 ‘EmotionEngine®.’ |
|
Launched the world’s quietest MRI scanner. |
| 2001: |
Commercialized HDD & DVD video recorder. |
| 2002: |
Developed full-color super-slim 8.4 inch flexible LCD. |
|
Introduced networked home appliances. |
| 2004: |
Developed the smallest direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) with energy output of 100 mill watts, certified by the Guinness World Records. |
|
Developed SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display), the next-generation flat panel display, with Canon, Inc. |
|
Developed the smallest hard disk drive (HDD), 0.85 inches, as featured in the Guinness World Records Book. |
top
|
Related Article:
Nowhere has Toshiba’s influence on technology and progress been more evident than in the company’s home country. Over the past 130 years, Toshiba has led the way in developing and introducing a broad range of products and technologies that have significantly improved the quality of life for the Japanese people.
Japan Firsts: Toshiba's Historical Achievements up to the 1980s
| 1890: |
Manufactured electric incandescent lamps. |
| 1894: |
Developed waterwheel power generators (60 kilowatt). |
| 1895: |
Produced induction motors. |
| 1915: |
Manufactured X-ray tubes. |
| 1919: |
Produced radio transmission tubes. |
| 1921: |
Invented the double coil electric light bulb. |
|
Manufactured radio receivers. |
| 1930: |
Manufactured washing machines and refrigerators. |
| 1931: |
Released vacuum cleaners. |
| 1936: |
Completed 150-kilowatt broadcast transmitter for NHK. |
| 1940: |
Completed 1,500A-1,000 kilowatt unipolar mercury rectifiers. |
| 1949: |
Produced prototype of world's smallest MOS transistor, with a gate length of 0.04 microns. |
| 1952: |
Completed TV broadcast transmitters and TV microwave relay system. |
| 1953: |
Manufactured 72,500 kVA umbrella-type waterwheel generators. |
| 1954: |
Completed TAC, digital computer, for the University of Tokyo. |
| 1955: |
Released electric rice cookers. |
| 1959: |
Completed transistor televisions. |
|
Developed microwave ovens. |
|
Helical scan VTR (Video Tape Recorder) machine. |
| 1963: |
Completed transmitters for satellite communications. |
| 1968: |
Developed a 100,000 gauss superconducting magnet, the most powerful in Japan. |
| 1972: |
Completed 700,000-kilowatt turbine generator. |
| 1978: |
Released the first Japanese word processor. |
|
Completed one million-kilowatt turbine generator, the largest in Japan. |
| 1982: |
Developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems (MRI). |
| 1984: |
Started operation of experimental 50-kilowatt fuel cell power plant, the largest in Japan. |
| 1985: |
Developed transceiver device for HDTV systems. |
|
top |
