Eizo

1. Founding and Early Innovation
1968Black and White TVsEizo Nanao Corporation was founded as Hakui Electric Corporation in the quiet city of Hakui, Japan. EIZO began as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of black and white televisions.1973Name ChangeThe company changed its name to Nanao Corporation.1978Table Top Gaming MonitorsEIZO entered the gaming market by beginning the manufacture and sale of tabletop video arcade machines. An EIZO table top was used with one of the 20th century's most recognizable arcade games: Space Invaders.


1980Hardware and Now SoftwareEIZO acquired Irem Corporation, a maker and purveyor of software for home and industrial use. Integrating its hardware and software expertise would become the core of EIZO's business model in the years to come and remains that way today.


1981New Factory, Future HeadquartersAs the company continued to grow, a new factory was built on a parcel of land adjacent to several acres of rice fields in Hakusan, Japan that later became the company's international headquarters.


Click image to enlarge and compare with aerial view in 2007.
2. Creating the Brand
1984Going GlobalCapitalizing on a global PC revolution, EIZO decided to expand its business overseas by founding Hitec Associates Ltd. (later renamed Eizo Corporation) in Kanazawa, Japan as a sales subsidiary for the European market.1985Table Top Gaming MonitorsAfter 17 years as an OEM manufacturer, the company began a new chapter in its history by selling its display monitors under its own name – or two names as it turned out. For the North American market, the company founded Nanao USA Corporation in California (now operating as Eizo Nanao Technologies Inc.) and sold its monitors under the NANAO brand name.



In Europe, the company took a different route and chose the brand name "EIZO," which is the Japanese word for "image."



The first EIZO/NANAO monitors came in 12- and 14-inch sizes and offered a "compact design and light weight." Some even boasted a "720 dots x 400 lines super high resolution."


Click image to see brochure (PDF)
1990New Facilities, New HeadquartersTo accommodate continuing growth, EIZO built new global headquarters and a research and development facility in Hakusan, Japan, next to a plant it opened in 1981. The following year, EIZO added a second plant.


Global headquarters and R&D facility
3. Worldwide Brand Success
1991NANAO in JapanAfter seeing its products appear on the shelves of Tokyo electronics stores as "reverse imports," the company began the sale of CRT display monitors for personal computers in its home market of Japan under the NANAO brand name.1992Swedish Subsidiary EstablishedSwedish subsidiary Eizo Sweden AB founded (now operating as EIZO Nordic AB). EIZO Nordic AB participated in the pioneering TCO forums, helping to establish guidelines for monitors concerning electric and magnetic field emissions, energy efficiency, and electrical safety.First Foray into LCD MonitorsEIZO produced its first LCD monitor for PCs, the FA-1020, years before LCDs became commonly available. This 10.4" model came in desktop and swing arm versions.


Click image to see brochure (PDF)
1993ISO 9002 CertificationAcquired ISO 9002 Quality Management System Certification.1996Unified Brand Name, New Logo, New Monitor DesignThe company discontinued using the NANAO brand name in North America and Japan and adopted EIZO as its brand name worldwide. With this global brand name came a new EIZO logo and distinctive new CRT monitor cabinet design which became a hit with business and home users alike.


1997ISO 9001 CertificationAcquired ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification (PDF: 964 KB).LCD Monitor ProductionAdvances in LCD technology combined with a demand for more space-efficient monitors made it feasible to begin mass production of LCD monitors for PCs. EIZO brought one of the first LCD products to market with the 13.8-inch FlexScan L23.


1998ISO 14001 CertificationAcquired ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Certification (PDF: 1,964 KB), a management system EIZO has updated three times since then.1999Company Name ChangeNanao Corporation and Eizo Corporation merged and assumed the company's present name of Eizo Nanao Corporation. 
4. Innovation in the 21st Century
2001World's Thinnest Desktop LCD MonitorWhen LCD monitors first became widely available in the late 1990's, their bezel widths rivaled those of CRT monitors. EIZO changed all that with the release of the FlexScan L675, the world's first thin-bezel desktop LCD monitor. With a bezel width of what at the time was a revolutionary18.5 mm, the L675 was an instant hit in trading rooms and back offices.2002Medical MarketWith the rapid digitization of images in the medical field, EIZO entered the medical imaging market with its RadiForce line of monitors.


5th Anniversary LCD MonitorTo commemorate five years of manufacturing LCD monitors, EIZO released "Placeo", a 17-inch model with an aluminum cabinet. Only 3,000 pieces of this limited edition monitor were manufactured.


EIZO Eco ProductsThe company established "EIZO Eco Products" as an eco logo with the purpose of ensuring its products meet an internal set of criteria for environmental consciousness. EIZO has since updated EIZO Eco Products three times.


2003LCD Monitors for Color ProfessionalsAlthough the migration to LCD technology in the corporate world was well underway, professionals in color-critical fields such as pre-press and photography were still clinging to their aging CRTs. EIZO made it safe for them to finally make the switch when it introduced its ColorEdge series – the world's first line of LCD monitors specifically targeted at graphics professionals.


2004World's First Adobe RGB LCD MonitorBuilding on the initial success of its ColorEdge monitors, EIZO introduced the ColorEdge CG220, the world's first LCD monitor capable of reproducing the Adobe RGB color space.


Back to the BeginningEIZO returned to its roots as a TV manufacturer with the introduction of the FORIS line of LCD TVs in Japan.


2005Swiss Subsidiary EstablishedEIZO acquired the Eizo Business Unit of EXCOM AG, its sales distributor in Switzerland, and established the fully owned subsidiary Eizo Nanao AG.ISO 13485 CertificationEIZO became the first stand-alone monitor manufacturer to receive ISO 13485 certification for the quality management system for its medical display devices. (PDF: 1,279KB).
2007New Acquisitions Expand Vertical Market BusinessEIZO acquired graphics board developer and manufacturer, Tech Source, Inc. of Florida, USA. With this acquisition, EIZO entered the air traffic control, military and defense, and command and control markets.


Later this year, EIZO acquired the medical monitor business of Germany's Siemens A&D and established a new subsidiary, EIZO GmbH, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Through this acquisition, EIZO expanded its presence in the medical market, strengthened its R&D expertise, and now had production capability in Germany.New R&D FacilityThe company opened a new 2.5 billion yen, six floor research and development center within its global headquarters in Hakusan, Japan.


2008Further Vertical Market ExpansionEIZO entered into a definitive agreement with eg-electronic GmbH of Wolfratshausen, Germany to acquire the latter's business units for industrial monitors, air traffic control monitors, and monitor control boards. The acquisition was finalized in February 2009 and a new subsidiary, EIZO Technologies GmbH, in Wolfratshausen, Germany, officially began operations.


2009FORIS Goes GlobalPreviously only available in Japan, EIZO expanded its FORIS line of TVs to include PC monitors for home entertainment and released FORIS monitors worldwide.


2010Factory for the Chinese MarketAnticipating rapid growth in China for medical services and medical devices, EIZO established a wholly-owned subsidiary in China, EIZO Display Technologies (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., to manufacture medical monitors for the Chinese market.2011German and UK Subsidiaries EstablishedEIZO established two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Europe GmbH (Germany) and EIZO Limited (United Kingdom), to expand its sales and marketing activities in Europe.2013Company name changeChanged company name from Eizo Nanao Corporation to EIZO Corporation.