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<\/p>\nTOKYO – The humble pocket calculator may not be able to keep up with the mathematical capabilities of new technology, but it will never hallucinate.<\/p>\n
The device\u2019s enduring reliability equates to millions of sales each year for Japan\u2019s Casio, which is even eyeing expansion in certain regions.<\/p>\n
Despite lightning-speed advances in artificial intelligence, chatbots still sometimes stumble on basic addition. <\/p>\n
In contrast, \u201ccalculators always give the correct answer\u201d, Casio executive Tomoaki Sato told AFP. But he conceded that calculators could one day go the way of the abacus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s undeniable that the market for personal calculators used in business is on a downward trend,\u201d Mr Sato said in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Smartphones and web browsers can handle everyday sums, while AI models achieved gold-level scores for the first time at a prestigious global maths contest in 2025.<\/p>\n
But calculators are more affordable than phones, and run on batteries and solar power \u2013 a plus for schools in developing countries, a potential growth area for Casio, Mr Sato said.<\/p>\n
And people who do buy calculators prefer the way they feel, he argued.<\/p>\n
Ms Thitinan Suntisubpool, co-owner of a shop selling red bags and beckoning cats in Bangkok\u2019s Chinatown, said she loves how durable her big calculator is, having dropped it several times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more convenient in many ways,\u201d the 58-year-old told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can use it to press the numbers and show the customer\u201d, avoiding language-barrier misunderstandings.<\/p>\n
But at a nearby street stall selling clocks, torches and calculators, the vendor, who gave her name as Da, said calculator sales were \u201cquiet\u201d.<\/p>\n
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This photo taken on Nov 18 shows Ms Thitinan Suntisubpool using a calculator at her shop in Bangkok. <\/p>\n
PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n
At a Casio factory in Thailand, assembly line workers slotted green circuit boards into place and popped cuboid buttons labelled \u201cDEL\u201d from a plastic tub onto pastel-blue calculator frames.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalculators are still in demand,\u201d said Mr Ryohei Saito, a general manager for Casio in Thailand.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everywhere in the world has smartphone connectivity, and calculators are optimised tools focused on necessary functions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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This photo taken on Nov 12 shows workers assembling calculators at the Casio factory in Thailand\u2019s Nakhon Ratchasima province. <\/p>\n
PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n
In the year to March, Casio sold 39 million calculators, general and scientific, in around 100 countries.<\/p>\n
That compares to 45 million in 2019 to 2020, but is still up from the 31 million that sold the following year after the Covid-19 pandemic hit.<\/p>\n
The company has come a long way from the 1957 invention of the desk-sized 14-A, which it says was the first compact all-electric calculator.<\/p>\n
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This photo taken on Nov 25 shows a guide demonstrating the Casio 14-A calculator, invented in 1957, at the Toshio Kashio Memorial Museum of Invention in Tokyo. <\/p>\n
PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n