In 1982, Brother developed an electronic personal printer equipped with thermal printing technology. Later, this technology was applied to label printers, the products with which Brother has high market shares today. In the late 1980s, Brother also developed thermal fax machines and laser printers, entering into the information and communications equipment field. In 1985, Brother released the CNC* Tapping Center, a tapping machine equipped with a numerical control system, and dramatically advanced its industrial equipment business.
Chronology
| 1980 |
Production of JP15 "EM-1" electronic office typewriters with linear motor mechanism started.
|
|---|---|
| 1982 |
Production of the world’s smallest EP-20 electronic personal printers with a full keyboard started.
|
| 1983 | Production of ZZ2-B850 "COMPAL α" home sewing machines with sound started. |
| 1984 | Production of the first domestically produced Japanese-language word processors for personal use started. |
| 1985 | BROTHER INDUSTRIES (U.K.) LTD. established in the U.K. as a typewriter manufacturing company. |
| 1985 | CNC tapping center TC-211 integrating a numerical control system into a tapping machine launched in Japan. |
| 1986 | BROTHER INDUSTRIES (U.S.A.) INC. established in the U.S. as a typewriter manufacturing company. |
| 1987 |
Entry into the information and communications equipment field. FAX-100 launched.
|
| 1987 | Production of HL-8 laser printers started. |
| 1988 |
OEM "P-touch" label writers using thermal transfer technology for Japanese specifications launched.
|
| 1989 | BROTHER INDUSTRIES TECHNOLOGY (M) SDN. BHD. established in Malaysia. Production of information processing product components started. |
- Stands for Computer Numerical Control
