“I’ve never been satisfied with our business, not even once,” says Kazuo Kashio, one of the four brothers who founded Casio Computer, maker of the G-Shock watch. Perhaps that is the secret that keeps one of Japan’s longest-serving chief executives in action at the age of 86.
But even the most durable bosses have to prepare a succession eventually. Last week, Mr Kashio, who has spent nearly three decades running the company, ceded the title of president to his 49-year-old son Kazuhiro, saying it was time “for Casio’s new era”.
Under Mr Kashio’s direction, Casio Computer has continued to rely on consumer products to generate the vast majority of its sales, an unusual strategy among Japanese electronics makers.
The group, founded in 1957, is a pioneer of electronic calculators that went on to diversify into other gadgets, such as synthesisers and cameras. Long before the current smartwatch boom, its digital watches were sporting a range of features that seemed futuristic in the 1980s, such as a temperature-monitoring function. Since the global financial crisis, rivals such as Hitachi, NEC, Panasonic and Sony have cut their exposure to mobile phones, televisions and personal computers to enhance their profitability. But Casio has pressed on with niche and often quirky products such as a hit selfie camera in China. Meanwhile, more than three decades since its launch in 1983, the G-Shock watch continues to sell more than 7m units annually, exceeding the 6m peak of the 1997 boom.
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