About
| 1873 | Rokusaburo Sugiura began selling photographic and lithographic materials at Konishiya Rokubeiten in Kojimachi, Tokyo (the startup of the business of Konica Corporation). | |
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| 1903 | Marketed "Cherry Hand Camera," Japan's first brand name camera. | |
| 1928 | Kazuo Tajima established Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shoten (Japan-Germany photo company; the precursor of Minolta Co., Ltd.) and launched production of cameras in Japan. Marketed the Company's first camera "Nifcalette" in the following year. | |
| 1940 | Released the first made-in-Japan color film "Sakura Natural Color Film." | |
| 1956 | Established the first American subsidiary in Philadelphia, USA. | |
| 1958 | Completed the Company's first planetarium unit. | |
| 1960 | Completed the Company's first copier "Minolta Copymaster." | |
| 1962 | Established the first European subsidiary in Hamburg, Germany. | |
| 1971 | Released high-performance photostatic plain paper copier "U-Bix480." | |
| 1973 | Launched the operation of the Sakura driver's license printing system nationwide. | |
| 1975 | Released the world's first 35mm camera with built-in flash and AE functions "C35EF." | |
| 1977 | Released the world's first 35mm compact autofocus camera "C35AF." | |
| 1983 | Released the world's first copier with zoom magnification/reduction function "EP450Z." | |
| 1984 | Developed an ultra-high-precision aspheric plastic lens for CD players. | |
| 1985 | Released SLR camera with autofocus function "7000." | |
| 1987 | Released simple color-proofing system "Konsensus." | |
| 1989 | Released medical digital imaging output system "Laser Imager Li-10." | |
| 1990 | Released monochrome laser printer "SP101"; entered LBP market on a full scale. | |
| Released digital full-color copier "CF70." | ||
| 2000 | Fully launched business for TAC films for LCD polarizers. | |
| Established Konica Minolta Supplies Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a joint venture for the production of polymerized toners. | ||
| 2003 | Aug. | Established a holding company Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., by integrating the management of Konica Corporation and Minolta Co., Ltd. |
| Oct. | Reorganized and integrated the businesses of the group companies and formed the new holding company structure with business companies and common function companies. | |
| 2004 | Mar. | Opened its own planetarium Sunshine Starlight Dome "Manten" in Tokyo, Japan. |
| Jul. | Released non-contact 3D digitizer for industrial "VIVID 9i/VI-9i". | |
| Dec. | Established subsidiary for the production of MFPs and printers in Wuxi, China, Konica Minolta Business Technologies (Wuxi) Co., Ltd.. | |
| 2005 | Jan. | Established new business company for commercial use inkjet products, Konica Minolta IJ Technologies, Inc.. |
| Feb. | Released the world's first mammography to use phase contrast technology "PCM System". | |
| Aug. | Acquired American Litho Inc., a major printing plate manufacturer in the United States, and entered the CTP business. | |
| Nov. | Established sales subsidiary for MFPs and printers in Shanghai, China, Konica Minolta Business Solutions (CHINA) Co., Ltd.. | 2006 | Sep. | Released high-speed digital color MFP for the production print "bizhub PRO C6500". |
| Sep. | Completed construction of the fourth plant for the production of TAC films for LCD polarizers, in kobe, Japan. | |
| Dec. | Completed construction of the third plant for the production of polymerized toner, in Nagano, Japan. | |
| 2007 | Mar. | Formed strategic alliance with the General Electric Company (GE) to develop and commercialize organic light-emitting diode for lighting applications. |
| Mar. | Withdrawal of camera business. | |
| Apr. | Established Konica Minolta Healthcare Co., Ltd. by integrating the product planning, sales, and service functions of the medical businesses in Japan. | |
| May. | Established Konica Minolta Software Development (Dalian) Co., Ltd., for quality evaluation of the software in China. | |
| Sep. | Withdrawal of photo business. | |
| 2008 | Jan. | Konica Minolta and CEC establish a joint venture company, Konica Minolta Bizcom, Co., Ltd., to provide solution service business, |
| Feb. | Established Konica Minolta Glass Tech (M) Sdn. Bhd., for the production of the glass substrates for hard disk drives (HDDs) in Malacca, Malaysia. | |
| Apr. | Completed construction of a new building to consolidate R&D functions for optical business, in our Osaka-sayama site, Japan. | |
| Apr. | Entered into a strategic business alliance agreement with Oce. | |
| Jun | Acquired Danka Office Imaging Company(DOIC), one of the largest independent suppliers of office imaging equipment. | |
| 2009 | Feb. | Released high-chroma toner-equipped high-speed digital color MFP bizhub PRO C65hc. |