First pocket calculators

The first battery-operated electronic pocket calculators were brought out virtually simultaneously in 1970 by Japanese firms Sanyo, Sharp and Canon.
However, the "heart" of these first pocket calculators – the microchip – was produced by US companies such as Texas Instruments and Rockwell.
Texas Instruments had developed the first portable prototype as early as 1967. But the Cal-Tech, as it was known, was merely supposed to demonstrate the power of the new chip and never went into series production.
The huge sales potential of the pocket calculator had yet to be recognised, especially since it was still too expensive to produce. It was for this reason that Texas Instruments sold the technical design of the Cal-Tech to Canon, and only brought out its own pocket calculator in 1972.
Canon Canola Pocketronic
Sanyo ICC-82D
Sharp EL-8
Date of manufacture: 1970
Photo: Jan Braun, HNF