History overview
Introduces major business- and product-related events from 1917, when Nikon was established with the aim of starting domestic production of optical instruments, up until the present day.
Year
Business/events
Products and others
1917
Two of Japan's leading optical manufacturers – the Optical Instruments Department of Tokyo Keiki Seisakusho and Reflecting Mirror Department of Iwaki Glass Manufacturing – merged with capital investment from Koyata Iwasaki, the President of Mitsubishi, to form a comprehensive, fully integrated optical company known as Nippon Kogaku K.K. (Merged with Fujii Lens Manufacturing immediately after establishment).
1918
Oi Dai-ichi Plant (now Oi Plant) completed
1921
MIKRON 4x and 6x ultra-small-prism binoculars are marketed
Inviting German engineers
1925
JOICO Microscope is marketed
1927
Established the mass production of optical glass
1931
An 8-inch astronomical telescope is installed at Tokyo Science Museum (today's National Museum of Nature and Science)
1932
NIKKOR is adopted as brand name for camera lenses
1933
Delivery of Aero-NIKKOR, a NIKKOR lens designed for aerial photography
1946
Pointal ophthalmic lens is marketed
Nikon brand name is adopted for small-sized cameras
1947
Tilting Level E and Transit G surveying instruments are marketed
1948
Nikon Model I small-sized camera is marketed
Model I profile projector is marketed
1949
Listed on both Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges
1950
The New York Times introduces the superior features of Nikon cameras and NIKKOR lenses to the world
1952
Nikkor Club is established to promote photography culture
1953
Nikon Optical Co., Inc. (now Nippon Kogaku (U.S.A.) Inc.) is established in the U.S.
1954
Model SM stereoscopic microscope is marketed
1957
Nikon SP rangefinder camera is marketed
1959
SLR camera, the Nikon F is marketed
1961
Nikon AG is established in Switzerland as the first subsidiary in Europe (Now Nikon Switzerland Branch office of Nikon GmbH)
1962
Ultra Micro-NIKKOR high-resolution optical lenses are marketed
1963
NIKONOS all-weather camera is marketed
Management buy-in of Sakura Electronic Industries, Ltd. (now Tochigi Nikon Corporation)
1967
Oi Plant's Ofuna site (now Yokohama Plant) is built
1968
Photo gallery Ginza Nikon Salon is opened (Osaka Nikon Salon is opened in 1974)
Rotary encoder RIE digital measuring instrument is marketed
Nikon Europe N.V. (now Nikon Europe B.V.) is established in the Netherlands
1969
Call for entry for the 1st Nikon Photo Contest International (now Nikon Photo Contest)
1971
Nikon Photomic FTN is mounted on Apollo 15
Sendai Nikon Corporation is established
MND-2 extra-long-distance meter is marketed
Oi Plant's Sagamihara site (now Sagamihara Plant) is built
Nikon Vertriebs GmbH (now Nikon GmbH) is established in West Germany (now Germany)
Nikon F2 is marketed
Development of Extra-low Dispersion (ED) Glass
1976
Biophot and Metaphot microscopes are marketed
1977
Development of the Nikon F2 Titanium Uemura Special
1978
Nikko Engineering K.K. (now Nikon Engineering Co., Ltd.) is established
Nikon Canada Inc. is established in Canada
1979
Nikon U.K. Ltd. is established in the U.K.
1980
Nikon F3 SLR camera is marketed
NSR-1010G Step-and-Repeat System (stepper) for manufacturing VLSIs is marketed
1981
Nikon Americas Inc. is established in the U.S.
TITEX titanium ophthalmic frame is marketed
Acquires Ehrenreich Photo-Optical Industries, Inc. and renames it Nikon Inc.
Nikon Fieldscope is marketed
Zao Nikon Co., Ltd. (now Miyagi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd.) is established
1982
OPTISTATION IC wafer inspection system is marketed
Nikon Precision Inc. is established in the U.S.
1983
Nikon L35AF autofocus compact camera is marketed
Nikon F3AF SLR Camera is marketed
Alphaphot YS biological microscope series is marketed
1984
NT-1000 35mm film direct telephoto transmitter is marketed
Kumagaya Plant is built
NSR-1010i3 Step-and-Repeat System (stepper) is marketed
1985
Total Station DTM-1 surveying instrument is marketed
1986
Nikon Hong Kong Ltd. is established in Hong Kong
Nikon Systems Inc. is established
TRISTATION 600 and 600M three-dimensional coordinate measuring machines are marketed
Nikon F-501 autofocus SLR camera is marketed
Nikon France S.A. (now Nikon France S.A.S.) is established in France
NSR-L7501G large substrate exposure system is marketed
1987
Nikon Tec Corporation is established
1988
NSR-1505EX excimer stepper is marketed
Nikon Photo Products Inc. (now Nikon Imaging Japan Inc.) is established
Corporate name is changed to Nikon Corporation
LS-3500 35mm film scanner is marketed
Nikon Precision Europe GmbH is established in West Germany (now Germany)
1990
Nikon Precision Korea Ltd. is established in Korea
Nikon (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is established in Thailand
1991
Mito Plant is built
1992
Nikon Instech Co., Ltd. is established
Nikonos RS underwater AF SLR camera is marketed
1993
Nikon Instruments S.p.A. is established in Italy
1995
NEXIV series CNC video measuring system is marketed
E2 and E2s digital still cameras are marketed
NSR-S201A lens-scanning KrF excimer stepper is marketed
Nikon Singapore Pte Ltd is established in Singapore
Nikon Precision Taiwan Ltd. is established in Taiwan
1996
Nikon Research Corporation of America is established in the U.S.
Nikon Fieldmicroscope is marketed
ECLIPSE E800 biological microscope for research is marketed
1997
COOLPIX 100 and 300 digital cameras are marketed
1999
Total Station GF-212 and 215C surveying instruments are marketed
Nanjing Nikon Jiangnan Optical Instrument Co., Ltd. is established in China
D1 digital SLR camera is marketed
2000
Nikon-Essilor Co., Ltd., a joint venture with Essilor International of France, is established
FX-21S LCD scanner is marketed
Optical-infrared Subaru Telescope employs Nikon's Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph (FOCAS) and High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS)
Nikon Tsubasa Inc. is established
Nikon Holdings Europe B.V. is established in the Netherlands
Nikon Instruments Inc. starts operations in the U.S.
2001
Nikon Vision Co., Ltd. is established
Nikon (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. starts operations in Malaysia
NSR-S306C lens-scanning ArF excimer stepper is announced
2002
Nikon Instruments Europe B.V. starts operations in the Netherlands
Nikon Precision Shanghai Co., Ltd. is established in China
2003
Brand Symbol for Nikon Group is introduced
Nikon-Trimble Co., Ltd., a joint venture with Trimble Navigation Ltd. (now Trimble Inc.) of the U.S., is established
Nikon Instruments (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is established in China
2004
Hikari Glass Co., Ltd. becomes a wholly owned subsidiary
Yokohama Plant Yokosuka Branch (now Yokosuka Plant) is built
Nikon F6 SLR camera is marketed
2005
Nikon Instruments Korea Co., Ltd. starts operations in Korea
Nikon Imaging (China) Sales Co., Ltd. starts operations in China
2006
NSR-S609B ArF immersion scanner is marketed
Nikon Imaging Korea Co., Ltd. starts operations in Korea
Nikon Australia Pty Ltd starts operations in Australia
2007
BioStation CT cell culture observation system is marketed
Nikon Business Service Co., Ltd. is formed
Tochigi Nikon Precision Co., Ltd. is established
Nikon International Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. starts operations in China
Nikon India Private Limited starts operations in India
D3 digital SLR camera is marketed
2008
Nikon (Russia) LLC. starts operations in Russia
2009
FX-101S FPD scanner is marketed
Nikon Mexico S.A. de C.V. starts operations in Mexico
Metris NV becomes Nikon Metrology NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon Corporation in Belgium
NSR-S620 ArF immersion scanner is marketed
2010
D3S and D3X digital SLR cameras, and NIKKOR lenses are used in the International Space Station (ISS)
N-SIM and N-STORM super resolution microscopes are marketed
Nikon Holdings Hong Kong Limited is established in Hong Kong
HN-6060 non-contact multi-sensor 3D metrology system is marketed
2011
Nikon Sales (Thailand) Co., Ltd. starts operations in Thailand
Nikon do Brasil Ltda. starts operations in Brazil
Nikon 1 J1 and V1 advanced cameras with interchangeable lenses are marketed
2012
D4 digital SLR camera is marketed
Nikon Middle East FZE starts operations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
2013
PT Nikon Indonesia starts operations in Indonesia
Nikon Lao Co., Ltd. is established in Laos
Nikon Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. is established in Singapore
SPRINT-A HISAKI—the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere is equipped with a primary mirror developed by Nikon
2014
Nikon Latin America, S.A. starts operations in Panama
2015
Compact Digital Camera COOLPIX P900 is marketed
Optos Plc becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon Corporation in the U.K.
Nikon CeLL innovation Co., Ltd. is established
HN-C3030 non-contact sensor 3D metrology system is marketed
N-STORM 4.0 super resolution microscope is marketed
The Nikon Museum is opened
2016
NSR-S631E ArF immersion scanner is marketed
D5 digital SLR camera is marketed
FX-68S FPD scanner is marketed
Achieved a total production of 100 million NIKKOR lenses for interchangeable lens cameras
Nikon CEE GmbH starts operations in Austria
KeyMission 360, KeyMission 170 and KeyMission 80 are marketed
Mark Roberts Motion Control Limited becomes a wholly owned subsidiary
ECLIPSE Ti2 inverted research microscope is marketed
2017
WX series binoculars are marketed
Nikon celebrates its 100th anniversary
D850 digital SLR camera is marketed
2018
FX-103S and FX-103SH FPD scanner is marketed