The major manufacturers of thermal print head

Nowadays, thermal printers are widely used in our daily lives, such as printing shopping receipts and delivery sheets. The core component of a thermal printer is the thermal print head. Then what are the marjor manufacturers of thermal print head all over the world? Let I tell you.

1. Kyocera (Japan)

Kyocera is a Japanese multinational ceramics and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. It manufactures industrial ceramics, solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment, office document imaging equipment, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools, and components for medical and dental implant systems.

2. ROHM (Japan)

ROHM was established in 1950 as a pioneer of chip resistors.

As many people know, resistance has the characteristic of generating heat when current flows. Following the advent of thermal paper, ROHM developed thermal printheads using proprietary technology, then started production of printers for electronic calculators.

Later, thermal printheads were used in fax machines, and due to their compact, simple structure and high density capability have since been adopted in barcode label printers.
ROHM offers a wide range of thermal printheads for various applications, such as label printers, ticket printers, and barcode printers.

ROHM has accumulated industry-leading expertise in thick-film production, thin-film deposition, and semiconductor manufacturing technologies through a streamlined production system and R&D focused on resistive elements used for heat generation and semiconductor solutions such as driver ICs designed to power these elements.

3. Toshiba Hokuto (Japan)

Hokuto's predecessor was Toshiba Corp. Asahikawa Works (Manufacturing house hold lamp), company name changed to Toshiba Hokuto Electronics Corporation in 1993, and manufacturing of thermal print head started in 1997.

Hokuto meet the diverse needs of customers by implementing an extensive product lineup of print width varying from 2 inches to 14 inches and also resolution ranging from 200 dpi(dot per inch) to ultra-high resolution of 1,200 dpi.

4. AOI (Japan)

Aoi Electronics is a manufacturing company in Japan. They produce ICs, modules, and optical sensors. Their electronic products created with the latest technology are used in all industries. It offers LEDs, thermal printheads, and MEMS devices.

AOI Electronics Co., Ltd. was established in 1969, commenced production of Fixed Carbon Film Resistors. It commenced production of thermal print heads in 1997.

AOI developes and supplies long-lasting and high density products at the top level based on thickfilm printing technologies and bonding technologies.

5. Mitani Micronics (Japan)

In 1954, Mitani Micronics Co., Ltd. was establied in Japan, developed thermal printheads in 1981.

Mitani Micronics Co., Ltd. are the first manufacturer worldwide which established the commercialization of Side Face type as well as Bevel Side Face type successfully, using manufacturing and printing technology of high-precision screen masks which it have cultivated for years. Furthermore it have succeeded to develope and commercialize the new head type called Corner Surface type. Our technology has been and will keep developing consistently.

6. Gulton (USA)

Gulton is a pioneer in thermal printhead development and production. Gulton's corporate office and production facility is based in the United States. They manufacture OEM and OEM compatible thermal printheads for shipment worldwide. Examples of their vertical markets include: barcode, gaming, wagering, lottery, tag ticket, label, transportation, petroleum, financial and automated data collection markets.

Gulton is America's printhead manufacturer. Gulton is a poineer in thermal printhead development and production, having manufactured the first printhead for use by the federal government back in 1972.

Gulton had been a subsidiary of the Danaher Corporation. Gulton has operated independently since 2002, continuning to manufacture OEM and OEM compitable thermal printheads for customers across the global. Its manufacturing facility is located south Plainfield, New jersey, along with its corporate offices.

7. SHEC (China)

Shandong Hualing Electronics Co., Ltd. (SHEC) is a thermal print head manufacturer in China, Their products, from the thick film technology to the thin film technology, from the flat type print heads to the edge and corner edge type print heads, from the conventional driving print heads to thermal history control print heads.

In addition, TDK(Japan) used to have a thermal print head business, but it has withdrawn now.