By Graham K. Rogers

As part of a long-term restructuring program, Epson has announced that it is to focus on four specifics: inkjet, visual, wearables and robotics. It is in these areas that Epson is best able to drive innovation in inkjet printers and digital printing systems to 3LCD projectors, smart glasses, sensing systems and industrial robots. As part of the planned reorganisation, the company intends to "fuse the strengths of Orient Watch with Epson" as one of the measures being taken to achieve its wearables innovation vision.

Epson's strengths from its early involvement in watch-making are "the development and manufacture of unique core devices and watch movements based on original sensing technologies, precision parts processing and surface finishing technologies, and the precision assembly and finishing techniques of skilled artisans." Combining Orient Watch core strengths with its other deep skills, will accelerate the creation of wearable products, an area of particular interest currently.

As part of the restructuring that is to be carried out, from April 2017, the domestic sales functions of Orient Watch will be transfered to Epson Sales Japan Corporation. Other functions will be absorbed into Epson. More announcements are expected to be made in due course, but the structural changes are not expected to have any effect on the balance sheet.

See also:

• Orient Watch

• Epson Corporate pages

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life. He can be followed on Twitter (@extensions_th)