History

Following World War II, the radio provided entertainment for the people.
In addition to radios made by companies, those manufactured by semi-professionals through combining parts were popular, as they were inexpensive and had high performance.
In that era, Kataoka Electric Co., Ltd., which was the predecessor of Alps Alpine, developed a rotary switch used to tune a radio, and a variable capacitors that changed the frequency of the radio waves received by a radio.
These products were highly prized for their performance by semi-professionals. At first, the dealers of the products were wholesalers who supplied semi-professionals, but the company gradually expanded its sales channels to manufacturers of assembled products, thereby achieving growth.

In 1953, television broadcasting started in Japan. Our company was the first in the country to develop and manufacture tuners for changing TV programs.
At the time, there was a trend of overseas companies seeking Japanese labor, and along with this, our company actively introduced technology from overseas companies and rose up to become a leading class manufacturer of television tuners. Beyond sales in the domestic market, exports to overseas manufacturers also increased, and we were publicly recognized by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry as a company that contributes to exports.

NHK and four commercial broadcasting companies began broadcasting color television programs, and color televisions had become widely popularized. Then in 1964, there was an explosion in the sales of color televisions, triggered by the Tokyo Olympics.
The company had been producing potentiometers in addition to tuners, and therefore experienced even greater growth with the popularization of television.
At the beginning of the second half of the 1960s, a boom in personal car ownership occurred along with Japan's rapid economic growth. By 1967, Japan had become the world's second largest producer of automobiles, trailing only the United States. Alpine's predecessor, Alps Motorola, was established that year, and the company achieved a full-scale entry into the automotive industry.

During this decade, the oil crisis spurred Japan to establish the Act on Rationalizing Energy Use. On the business front, there was a shift to office automation (OA) that resulted in the introduction of electronic devices such as computers, calculators, copiers, and fax machines.
Amidst this environment, Alps Electric enjoyed favorable sales of various products used in or with computers, such as keyboards, switches, magnetic heads, printers.
The consumer electronics market, including products such as color televisions and audio equipment, also remained strong, and exports increased for home converters used with cable television, which emerged and became popular in the United States.
Alpine expanded its business through the development of devices for automobiles, in particular audio equipment.

The era of analog came to an close, and a great deal of products emerged to herald the dawn of the digital age.
In the second half of the 1980s, the economy continued to grow rapidly, driven by domestic demand-led recovery. The electronics industry was in a major expansion, particularly in computers and ICs. PCs began to be installed in many offices, and the emergence of CD radio cassette players for homes triggered rapid growth in audio.
The automobile industry was also experiencing favorable growth. In the 1980s, automobile production in Japan exceeded 10 million vehicles, surpassing even the United States to make the country the world's leading automobile manufacturer.
Alps Electric saw thriving sales of floppy disk drives and printers for offices, as well as switches, magnetic heads, and cylinders for video remote controls and potentiometer for radio-cassette players for the home.
In addition, the Gyrocator^*1 was jointly developed by Honda Motor, Alps Electric, and Alpine, representing forerunner to today's car navigation systems.

*1. Gyrocator is a registered trademark of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

The evolution of digital appliances continued to progress. Laptop computers and ultra-compact computers were created, and these transformed the PC into something that anyone could use.
Starting in the mid-1990s, the substantial spread of the Internet began.
Alps Electric expanded its business by engaging in the production of keyboards and mice for computers, in addition to switches and magnetic heads used in digital home appliances.
In the 1990s, automobile navigation systems began to see popularization, and automotive devices began to function as information centers for video, data, and communications in addition to audio.
Alpine made use of its experience with developing the gyrocator to produce a diversity of products focused on automobile navigation systems.
In addition to expanding its OEM business with automobile manufacturers, Alpine also released a great number of products for the aftermarket. By 1995, the company's aftermarket products had captured the leading share of the domestic market.

The first half of the 2000s was an era of telecommunications. There was a severe decline in demand all around the world for equipment, especially computers and mobile phones, leading to the bursting of the IT bubble and the ushering in of a difficult period.
However, there was a major upswing in demand in the middle of the decade for flat-screen televisions, DVD recorders, and digital cameras—devices termed the "New Three Sacred Treasures" in Japan.
Along with the rising trend, Alps Electric experienced growth in MR heads, magnetic heads, and optical communication technologies.
Alpine announced its flagship model and established its image as a high-grade, high-quality brand. It was also an era in which environmental awareness was growing, and there was an increase in environmentally friendly products.

In 2007, the launch of the iPhone set off the seemingly overnight popularization of smartphones. Along with this trend, demand grew for peripheral smartphone devices and software.
Alps Electric made effective use of its strengths with various types of sensors to reform itself from a company dealing in mechanical parts to one dealing in materials. Meanwhile, Alpine was successful with its strategy of targeting the generation that was raising children in the domestic market, and its sales in the aftermarket grew.
The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 caused a great deal of damage to the company's buildings, in particular to its office buildings located in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. However, owing to the cooperation of employees, their families, and the local community, Alpine was able to resume operations within about two weeks following the earthquake.