FAQs

How did you arrive at the name "Wacom?"

The name "Wacom" was derived by partially replacing the English name WORLD COMPUTER with "WA," which means "harmony"in Japanese. The name was created to express our goal of attaining development in which people and computers are in harmony.

What are the names of your Group companies?

Our overseas subsidiaries are

• Wacom Technology Corporation,
• Wacom Europe GmbH,
• Wacom China Corporation,
• Wacom Korea Co., Ltd.,
• Wacom Australia Pty. Ltd.,
• Wacom Hong Kong Ltd.,
• Wacom Singapore Pte. Ltd.,
• Wacom Taiwan Information Co., Ltd., and
• Wacom India Pvt. Ltd. (India)

Where are your branch offices and factories located?

Our head office is located in Toyonodai, Kazo-city, Saitama, Tokyo. Branch Office is located in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo and we have domestic operations offices in Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Our factory is located on the site of our head office in Saitama and we have several EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Service) bases located overseas.

Who is the current president of the Company? Please provide a personal history.

His Biography is shown below.

Masahiko Yamada (Born in 1958)
[Biography]

• March 1986   Graduated from Tohoku University, Faculty of Engineering
• March 1986   Joined Wacom Co., Ltd. as a staff member of Overseas Sales Dep.
• April 1991   General Manager , Overseas Sales Division
• April 1992   President , Wacom Technology Corporation. (U.S.A.)
• April 1996   Division Manager, Electronic Systems and Devices (ESD) Division
• June 1996   Director
• April 1999   Executive Director
• April 2000   Company President of ESD Company
• June 2003   Executive Director, Senior Executive Officer, Company President of ESD Company
• April 2004   Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
• June 2004   President, Chief Executive Officer

What are your main business fields?

Wacom's business fields are pen tablets, components, CAD software for electrical design. Each product is developing its own brand.
Please refer to "Company Introduction" in Disclosed Information & Reports.
Regarding each product in detail, please refer to "Our Business" in our corporate web site.

• Company Introduction »
• Our Business »

What is a pen tablet?

A pen tablet is a type of computer input device, such as a keyboard mouse, etc, which consists of a battery-less cordless electronic pen and a tablet.
Electronic pen functions on a tablet are the same as a mouse. In addition, a pen tablet allows users to input drawings, diagrams and characters in a similar way to writing and drawing in pencil on paper.

What are the strengths of your Company?

1. A strong technological capability which has enabled Wacom to achieve numerous patents and gain know-how including patents related to the core pen tablet technology, recognized around the world as being from Japan.
2. The brand with the world's leading share of pen tablet sales and the top domestic share of CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems for electrical design. It has also gained the top share in the world for digital pen and multi-touch components incorporated into notebook PCs plus digital pen components incorporated into smart phones.
3. Global business development. Wacom has built partnerships with global leaders of operation systems, application software, and hardware vendors for many years, while optimum research, development and sales organizations have been established in different regions around the world.

What is your market share in the pen tablet market?

The domestic share in the pen tablet market has reached 92.3%. (Survey by BCN Inc. in 2012)
The Company's estimated global market share is approximately 80%.

What is the EMR (Electro Magnetic Resonance) method incorporated in a pen tablet?

This method refers to the patented pen input and pen tablet technology, the only one of its kind in the world, which enables battery-less and cordless input operation.

(Mechanism)

The tablet forms a magnetic field on its surface (electromagnetic field), in which the electronic pen moves. When it moves, electricity runs through the coil inside the pen. The tablet then receives inductive signals generated by the magnetic field formed on the pen side (induction).By repeating the process a number of times in a short time, the pen's path is smoothly read by the tablet. The digital pen is capable of detecting the force exerted on it and the tilted angle, thereby enabling differences in line widths and color gradation to be displayed. Another notable feature is that an eraser function, which allows users to easily correct drawings, can be added to the pen.

Which fields are pen tablets used in?

A professional pen tablet is used in the Computer Graphics (CG) industry driving movie production, represented by Hollywood movies, digital painting, coloring and compositing processes in animation studios around the world and for creating realistic images in video game production, as well as designs for printing and apparel.
A consumer pen tablet, (there are differences by region, in Europe and U. S.) is used for digital photo retouching, digital scrapbooking, and replacement of a PC mouse. In Japan, manga productions, comics and blogs are the main usages. Also note taking, editing, and writing to screen presentations are also used for business purposes.
A LCD pen tablet is used in industrial design processes, such as automotive, electronic records in the medical field, as well as classroom teaching by a projector and screen combination instead of a blackboard. On the other fields, pen tablets are used in private and public situations such as paperless conference systems, respond screens in TV quiz shows, credit card transactions by digital signatures in financial institutions, police stations, courts, and meteorological agencies.
Please refer to "Company Introduction" in Disclosed Information & Reports.

Disclosed Information & Reports »

What are the advantages of touch technology used in your pen tablets and components?

High-speed, high-precision sensor technological expertise on the pen tablet is utilized in touch technologies, which are in the in-house developed IC with the original algorithm to detect finger touch and enable detection of the high-speed multi touch. In addition, a single IC can also detect and control simultaneously both EMR pen and capacitive multi-touch. It is also suitable for battery-powered laptop PCs because of the low-power design.
The capacitive touch technology is a technology to detect the point, as the sensor emits weak signals with line-shaped multiple directions on the touch panel, and detects the signal changes caused by changes in capacitance of light finger touch.

Could the EMR pen be replaced by touch technologies?

Touch screen operation is suitable for moving icons and selecting menu options instead of a mouse but is not suitable for the production of content, such as painting and note taking. On the other hand, the EMR pen also has mouse functionality and comes to life when creating content. Each function of pen and touch is complementary and the possibility that touch can replace the EMR pen is extremely low.
Wacom has the advantage of using it's user interface technology solutions for both pen and touch.

What is the business philosophy of your Company?

Wacom's corporate vision is "creating harmony between people and technology" and our mission aims to strive for global market and technology leadership with intuitive and natural user interface solutions.
In 2007, Wacom unveiled a new brand concept, "Open up. Sense more.", which expresses our attitude to life and our aim of creating new ideas beyond the stereotype, watching the world with an unconventional perspective and emotion. With this concept Wacom intends to create new ideas and solutions.

Please let me know your business models of product management, product development, and manufacturing.

Wacom enhances global organizations and optimizes business models of key functions, such as product management, development, manufacturing, and its SCM (Supply Chain Management).

(Product management)

New professional products are planned in the US. which is the world's most advanced computer graphics market, consumer products are focused on Europe, which covers the widest range of use patterns and the most competitive market and Japan, where consumers are keen for and demand highly sophisticated products by Wacom global product management members.

(Product development)

Japan is in charge of developing the technology and design hardware products due to the country's strong infrastructure for technological development, as well as its geographic location, being close to our main manufacturing bases in China and Taiwan. The development of driver software for PCs and smartphones is mainly performed in the US, where Wacom is close to all the global OS developers, such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

(Manufacturing)

Wacom focuses on developing optimal manufacturing models for cost competitiveness and product quality leadership. All critical components continue to be made by Wacom and all high-volume manufacturing is done by EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) located in China and Taiwan under the guidance of the QA assurance division to ensure the highest product quality. Wacom also has SCM bases in China.

What fields do you intend to focus on? In which business areas do you expect growth?

Wacom will focus on the natural and intuitive user interface field in the future, and also intends to expand in both the pen tablet and components businesses. With the spread of tablet type devices, that support digital pen and multi-touch as a standard, Wacom expects that it will be able to develop new markets for products and parts with a digital pen and multi-touch function. Wacom also expects to accelerate market expansion from graphics users to general users by the release of new products for the consumer and components markets.
With growing demands from society for electronic information due to the paper-less, film-less and enhanced information management, Wacom expects greater expansion of business uses for the LCD pen tablets as well as new products for digital signature, e-Books, and tables which are non-PC IT equipment.
In the regions, from US. and Europe to Asia, especially markets in China, India and Latin America, expansion is expected.

What is your dividend payout policy?

Wacom's dividend payout policy is to maintain stable payouts to ensure future business development and reinforce the financial base. The payout ratio is targeted to be more than 30% on a consolidated basis and increased in the long-term in order to attract global investment to the Company.
Wacom doesn't adopt any shareholder special benefits plan on the standpoint of fairness among the shareholders. Wacom aims to execute continuous payouts with dividends and the flexible repurchase of own shares.

What is your stock code?

The stock code is 6727 of Tokyo Stock Exchange.

What stock exchange are your shares traded in?

In Tokyo Stock Exchange section 1st

What is the number of a minimum share trading unit?

100 shares per a minimum trading unit.

Please let me know your current stock price.

Wacom stock price is shown on EUROLAND web site with a 20 minutes delay, or please contact your brokerage.

EUROLAND»

Please let me know your shareholder distribution.

Please refer to "Shareholders' Information" of the latest Financial Data or Annual Report in Disclosed Information & Reports.

Disclosed Information & Reports»

When do shares have to be held for shareholders to qualify to receive a dividend?

Shares held on March 31 entitle shareholders to receive dividends. Regarding the stock trading dates to receive dividends, please contact your brokerage.

Please let me know the historical data of dividends.

Please refer to "Dividends per share" of the latest Business Report in Disclosed Information & Reports.

Disclosed Information & Reports »

What is your transfer agent regarding clerical procedures for stocks?

The domestic transfer agent in Japan is Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited.
Regarding clerical procedures for stocks, please contact your custodian trustee in your region in detail.

Inquiries regarding clerical procedures for stocks »