 | |
| Industry | Typewriters and mechanical calculators (originally), typewriter supplies, thermal transfer labels, and ribbons |
|---|---|
| Genre | typewriters, thermal label technology |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Founder | Lyman, Wilbert, Monroe and Hurlburt Smith |
| Fate | Multiple bankruptcies, Acquired by private company in 2000 and reinvented as thermal label and ribbon manufacturer |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio (originally Syracuse, New York) , |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Typewriters, thermal transfer labels, thermal transfer ribbons, direct thermal labels |
| Website | SmithCorona.com |
Smith Corona is an American manufacturer of thermal labels, direct thermal labels, and thermal ribbons used in warehouses for primarily barcode labels.
Once a large U.S. typewriter and mechanical calculator manufacturer, Smith Corona expanded aggressively during the 1960s to become a broad-based industrial conglomerate with products extending to paints, foods, and paper. The mechanical calculator sector was wiped out in the early 1970s by the production of inexpensive electronic calculators, and the typewriter business collapsed in the mid-1980s due to the digital revolution and PC-based word processing.
Smith Corona adapted by manufacturing word processing typewriters such as the PWP 1400 model. Its competitors were Brother, Olivetti, Silver Seiko, Adler, Olympia and IBM. In late 2010, Smith Corona entered the industrial ribbon and label market.
The company no longer manufactures typewriters or calculators, but does manufacture large quantities of barcode and shipping labels and the thermal ribbons used in thermal transfer printers. Their facility is in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] Smith Corona competes with distributors of Zebra Technologies supplies, packaging companies like Uline, and various other private companies.
- ^ "Smith Corona's Corporate History". Smith Corona Inc.