Taste when the cherries are ripe: 70 years later, still growing

From the industry's choice and niche hobby, to the public's use, and even a few comments on the product, the status of the mechanical keyboard in my country's peripheral market has changed, and it will take about ten years. In the process of this rapid popularity penetration, there is a name that has played a vital role. Even if you are not an ashes player, you may be able to call this name - "CHERRY".

When it comes to CHERRY, you may think of key words such as "made in Germany", "MX shaft body" and "long-term use". These keywords are exactly the status symbol of CHERRY as a master of mechanical keyboards and even mechanical switches. Being able to become a master also means that CHERRY is also the "King of Scrolls" who is "old and strong" in the industry.

Indeed, CHERRY is not young anymore, and this year just came to her 70th birthday. However, this "old and rare" is ready to show his youthful vigor in the new era. How did CHERRY come through the past 70 years, and how does it plan to make the sweetness of experience available to consumers in the new era? Today, we might as well taste "when the cherries are ripe".

Among the labels on CHERRY, "Made in Germany" is probably relatively well-known. Germany, which was founded on industry and still promotes the development of industrial technology, has undoubtedly made a strong endorsement for the growth of CHERRY. However, do you know that CHERRY was not established in the blessed land of Germany?

Let us turn the pointer back to 1953 when CHERRY was established, the founder Walter L. Cherry establishes CHERRY in Highland Park, Illinois, USA. Since its establishment, CHERRY's main business has been quite clear - focusing on the manufacturer of micro switches.

After ten years of development in the United States, in 1963, CHERRY started its business in Europe for the first time with the help of a joint venture capital enterprise, and moved its production facilities to Bayreuth, Germany four years later. Today, it may be difficult for us to empathize with Mr. Cherry, but we can guess why there is such a change through the traces left by history.

The 1950s was a period when Germany concentrated on economic development and tried every means possible. It draws on the positive and negative experience of governing the country since industrialization, and within the framework of the social market economy, it establishes the three pillars of "rejuvenation" and continuous strengthening of national strength. Here, industry ranks first. In the mid-1950s, German industrial production regained its status as a world industrial power; by the end of the 1980s, its export volume had leapt to the first place in the world.

Under the background of Germany's industrial power, CHERRY has achieved rapid technological accumulation and has been recognized by the market. In 1979, CHERRY opened a factory in Auerbach, Germany; in 1983, CHERRY MX shaft body was officially launched, and achieved rapid success, and later even became a strong representative of CHERRY in the civilian field.

The MX switch body, which can be called the masterpiece of CHERRY, is not only still in production today, but also used in millions of keyboards around the world, and after the patent expired in 2003, it has played a leading role in the entire switch and even the mechanical keyboard industry. Friends who have been paying attention to mechanical keyboards in the past ten years may wish to recall that when the domestic switches dominated the world, they used the MX Copy style switch design. No matter how optimized or even introduced later, the CHERRY MX switch has played a very important role in the prosperity and popularization of the mechanical keyboard market.

Of course, CHERRY did not rely on the status of "Old Xingzun" to eat all kinds of fresh tricks. The design team adopts the strategy of "grasping with both hands"—that is, developing new products while continuing to dig deep into the MX shaft body, so as to continue to contribute to the prosperity of the industry.

Friends who continue to pay attention to the mechanical shaft industry should have a deep impression on CHERRY's latest shaft, the MX Ergo Clear jade shaft. Inspired by keyboard enthusiast forum Geekhack netizens, this switch is a co-created product of CHERRY through constant communication with enthusiasts and the community. By replacing the spring and using a new grease, the MX Ergo Clear jade switch has a fusion of green and blue performance.

At the same time as the release of the MX Ergo Clear jade switch, the brand new MX Black Clear-Top switch known as the "ink switch" also met with you. The special feature of this switch is that CHERRY provides two versions: the factory run version is for players who want to use it immediately, and pursues a smooth key experience and full key sound; the non-factory version is for those who want Players who use their own hands-on ability to create their own unique feel shaft decide the feel. These two shafts are also the first time that CHERRY has tried its own factory-lubricated shafts. Through continuous trials and verifications, it finally meets the players while ensuring the lubricated feel and long life.

In addition to these two shafts, CHERRY also launched the Ultra Low Profile ultra-short shaft in 2021. The ultra-short shaft is the latest product created by CHERRY by continuously compressing the height of the shaft body following the market demand for thinner and lighter. It is also the first to be used in Alienware flagship notebooks, allowing notebooks to have both portability and desktop mechanical keyboards Feel, its market significance is self-evident.

The ultra-short shaft is based on the X-shaped gull-wing structure. Under the X-shaped gull-wing structure, the combination of trigger paddles and dual trigger switches makes the button touch feedback sensitive and fast. Thanks to dedicated connection pads that can be soldered directly to the PCB, this space-saving solution allows it to be seamlessly integrated into laptops. In the future, the ultra-short shaft will be used in more notebooks, and even become a guarantee for the feel of ultra-thin peripherals.

While "grasping with both hands" and achieving outstanding results, CHERRY has also expanded its business to areas other than office/games that are generally recognized by the public. In response to the needs of different markets such as healthcare, CHERRY continues to develop products to improve execution efficiency. A cold knowledge that is easily overlooked: Before the world-renowned MX shaft, CHERRY launched the predecessor ML shaft, which has received a lot of praise in the industrial field.

Mechanical switches are the source of CHERRY's foundation, and CHERRY continues to invest in the field of mechanical switches, which has not stopped until now. However, this does not mean that CHERRY only has an influence on one track. Since the 2020s, CHERRY's series of actions in the capital market and industry have made us feel CHERRY's ambition to face the new normal.

As early as June 29, 2021, CHERRY Germany and its subsidiaries were successfully listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at an issue price of 32 euros per share, generating a total revenue of 416 million euros, of which CHERRY received 138 million euros. The proceeds will be mainly used for the expansion of new businesses, extending the high-end brand image, and seeking new breakthroughs on the occasion of the 70th anniversary.

In terms of industry, following the acquisition of hardware and software manufacturer Theobroma Systems and reinforcement of cloud services, CHERRY acquired the game brand Xtrfy in the past 2022. Friends who pay attention to the CS arena should be familiar with Xtrfy. This "small and beautiful" peripheral brand is well known for its cooperation with the legendary CS team NiP.

After the acquisition, Xtrfy, which still maintains an independent operation, will have a certain sense of feeding back to CHERRY's products - as we all know, CHERRY is launching peripheral products such as mouse, earphone, microphone, etc., which means that CHERRY will show its strength in the peripheral industry .

70 is not a young age in any industry. In the digital and even industrial fields, being 70 years old not only means having a strong technical accumulation, but also means having a forward-looking attitude. All that the 70-year-old CHERRY has achieved in recent years just confirms the label and impression that a successful company mentioned above should have. What consumers can get from CHERRY in the future is certainly worth looking forward to, and we also hope that CHERRY, which is still on the road of growth, can successfully realize transformation with multiple identities, and have a better and long-term impact on the digital experience of all walks of life.