History of Foster

Shigehiro Nishimura and Hiroaki Shinohara, who coincidentally both hailed from Nagano Prefecture, founded Foster Electric in 1949 under the name “Shinano Acoustic Research Institute” and began manufacturing speakers. Their first speakers were unknown, and they struggled to secure sales at electrical wholesalers in Kanda. They finally managed to get two stores to stock them.
Sales were surprisingly good, and when they revisited three months later, the shop owner requested their next shipment.

This experience cemented their conviction: “If you make something with sincerity, it will be recognized,” and “We must create excellent products.” They adopted “Sincerity” as their corporate philosophy. This belief continues to guide Foster Electric's manufacturing today.

At the time, speakers were typically produced manually with large workforces, resulting in inconsistent quality. At Foster, automated manufacturing equipment began to be introduced into the factory starting in 1979, but it was still prone to frequent breakdowns and difficult to handle.
The turning point came in 1981 with an inquiry from GM (Delco) in the United States for automotive speakers. Strong demands for consistent quality made the development of automated machinery essential for manufacturing speakers for GM. The automotive design group and production line worked together as one to meet the stringent quality requirements, achieving mass production from prototyping in an exceptionally short time of just one year from the initial inquiry.

We are now progressively advancing digital transformation (DX) to eliminate human error through automation in production processes, equipment maintenance, and factory logistics. By leveraging automated analysis and prediction from accumulated data to prevent issues before they occur, we are focusing our efforts on producing even higher-quality products.

Since the Shinano Acoustic era, we have steadily produced and advanced the in-house manufacturing of key components such as voice coils and dampers to achieve cost advantages.
In 1953, we also began research into in-house production of cone paper, a material that significantly influences frequency response. Founder Shinohara himself inspected a washi paper factory in Kochi and initiated research from the very basics of cone paper. We focused intently on materials and manufacturing processes, adjusting treatment methods for each product to achieve the best possible sound.

In the 2000s, the mobile phone market experienced rapid global expansion, entering what was termed the “one phone per person” era. This growth fueled expectations of intensifying competition in the supply of bundled earphones. Leveraging our in-house production of key components, we secured orders by offering overwhelming cost competitiveness and high-performance, high-quality vibration systems. This strategy enabled our rapid growth through orders for earphones bundled with mobile phones.

We have faced numerous crises, including the yen's appreciation in 1994, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the U.S. recession in 2000, and declining sales due to intensifying price and market competition in electrical appliances. Even amid these challenges, we have overcome crises by setting annual slogans and working together toward our goals.

In 2018, revenue declined due to slowing growth in the smartphone market. The following year, revenue continued to fall amid market uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus and yen depreciation. Even in these circumstances, we overcame the challenges by pooling the efforts of every individual across our global operations. This included passing on product price increases, reducing transportation costs, adjusting inventory levels, and maintaining stable production.