Key Tronic
Key Tronic Corporation (branded Keytronic) is a technology company founded in 1969 by Lewis G. Zirkle. Its core products initially included keyboards, mice and other input devices. Key Tronic currently specializes in PCBA and full product assembly. The company is among the ten largest contract manufacturers providing electronic manufacturing services in the US. The company offers full product design or assembly of a wide variety of household goods and electronic products such as keyboards, printed circuit board assembly, plastic molding, thermometers, toilet bowl cleaners, satellite tracking systems, etc.
 Classic Key Tronic monogram and wordmark | |
| Keytronic | |
| Company type | Public |
| |
| Industry | Computer peripherals |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Spokane Valley, Washington, U.S. |
Key people | Brett Larsen (CEO) |
| Products | Keyboards |
| Revenue |  US$588 million (2023) |
Number of employees | 5,447 (2023) |
| Website | keytronic.com |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Key Tronic Corporation (branded Keytronic) is a technology company founded in 1969 by Lewis G. Zirkle.[2][3] Its core products initially included keyboards, mice and other input devices. Key Tronic currently specializes in PCBA and full product assembly. The company is among the ten largest contract manufacturers providing electronic manufacturing services in the US.[4] The company offers full product design or assembly of a wide variety of household goods and electronic products such as keyboards, printed circuit board assembly, plastic molding, thermometers, toilet bowl cleaners, satellite tracking systems, etc.
Keyboards
[edit]After the introduction of the IBM PC, Keytronic began manufacturing keyboards compatible with those computer system units.[5]
Most of their keyboards are based on the 8048 microcontroller to communicate to the computer. Their early keyboards used an Intel 8048 MCU. However, as the company evolved, they began to use their own 8048-based and 83C51KB-based MCUs.
In 1978, Keytronic Corporation introduced keyboards with capacitive-based switches, one of the first keyboard technologies to not use self-contained switches.[citation needed] There was simply a sponge pad with a conductive-coated Mylar plastic sheet on the switch plunger, and two half-moon trace patterns on the printed circuit board below. As the key was depressed, the capacitance between the plunger pad and the patterns on the PCB below changed, which was detected by integrated circuits (IC). These keyboards were claimed to have the same reliability as the other "solid-state switch" keyboards such as inductive and Hall-Effect, but competitive with direct-contact keyboards.
Natural Keyboard
[edit]
The first generation of Microsoft ergonomic keyboards was designed by the Microswitch division of Honeywell, which was acquired by Key Tronic in early 1994.[6] Over 3 million units had been sold by February 1998, when its successor, the Natural Keyboard Elite, was introduced.[7] In 1997, Key Tronic landed the contract for the second generation.[8] It introduced three new keys purposed for Microsoft's upcoming operating system: two Windows logo keys (⊞ Win) between the Ctrl and Alt keys on each side, and a ≣ Menu key between the right Windows and Ctrl keys.[9]
ErgoForce
[edit]Keytronic's "ErgoForce" technology includes different keys having rubber domes with different stiffness. The alphabetic keys intended to be struck with the little finger need only 35 grams of force to actuate, while other alphabetic keys need 45 grams.[10]
Corporate information
[edit]The company, which has been described as a contract manufacturer, was founded in 1969,[3] went public in 1983,[11] and has an estimated 3,500 employees.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. September 26, 2023.
- ^ Grant, Tina, ed. (1996). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 14. United States of America: St. James Press. pp. 284–286. ISBN 1-55862-342-6.
- ^ a b "Keytronic Corporation: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.com.
- ^ Lind, Treva (May 10, 2012). "Key Tronic's sales, earnings grab notice of investors". Spokane Journal of Business. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Sandler, Corey (January 1983). "Key Tronic's Soft Touch". PC Magazine: 347. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
- ^ Jewell, Mark (October 17, 1995). "Ergonomics Is Key For Key Tronic". The Seattle Times. AP. Archived from the original on 25 Sep 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ "Microsoft Announces Availability of New Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite" (Press release). Redmond, Washington: Microsoft. February 26, 1998. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ^ Murphey, Michael (November 19, 1997). "Microsoft, Key Tronic Reach Deal: Spokane Company To Make New Ergonomic Keyboard". The Spokesman Review. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ FISHER, LAWRENCE M. (6 September 1994). "Microsoft Is Bringing Out Its First Computer Keyboard". The New York Times.
...the Microsoft Corporation will begin shipping a keyboard on Tuesday with a suggested retail price of $99.
- ^ Lasky, Michael S. (1999-07-01). Fox, Steve (ed.). "May the ErgoForce Be With You" (PDF). PC World. Vol. 17, no. 7. p. 88. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
- ^ Young, Larry (April 27, 1983). "Keytronic will go public". Spokane Chronicle. p. C6.
- ^ "Keytronic company profile - Office locations, jobs, key people".
External links
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