Bold claim: calculators still outlast AI—and they survive on reliability, not novelty.
TOKYO — The unassuming pocket calculator may not match the rapid math prowess of today’s AI, but it does one thing AI often struggles with: never hallucinate. This steady reliability keeps Casio’s sales in the millions each year and even spurs talk of expansion in select markets.
Even as artificial intelligence accelerates, chatbots frequently stumble on simple arithmetic. In contrast, calculators are trusted to deliver correct results every time, according to Casio executive Tomoaki Sato. He also notes a potential future decline for calculators, comparing them to the abacus.
"The market for personal calculators used in business is undeniably shrinking," Sato observed in Tokyo.
Smartphones and web browsers can handle everyday sums, and AI models achieved gold-level scores at a prestigious global mathematics competition in 2025. Yet calculators retain advantages: they are cheaper than smartphones and run on batteries or solar power—an appealing feature for schools in developing countries and a potential growth niche for Casio, Sato says.
People who buy calculators also appreciate how they feel to use. In Bangkok’s Chinatown, Ms. Thitinan Suntisubpool, co-owner of a shop selling red bags and beckoning cats, extols her sturdy, large calculator, noting she often drops it without issue.
"It’s more convenient in many ways," the 58-year-old told AFP. "We can press the numbers and show customers directly, avoiding language barriers."
Nearby, a street vendor selling clocks, torches, and calculators described calculator sales as quiet. At Casio’s Thai factory, workers insert green circuit boards and snap on pastel-blue calculator frames, with cuboid DEL buttons straight from a tub.
"Calculators are still in demand," asserted Ryohei Saito, Casio’s general manager in Thailand. "Not everyone around the world has smartphone connectivity, and calculators are optimized tools for essential functions."
In the year ending March, Casio sold 39 million calculators—both general and scientific—across about 100 countries. That compares with 45 million in 2019–2020, but remains higher than the 31 million sold the year after the Covid-19 outbreak.
Casio’s lineage traces back to 1957 with the desk-sized 14-A, which the company marks as its first compact all-electric calculator. History even made headlines recently when Christie’s temporarily halted the Paris sale of La Pascaline, an early calculating machine from 1642, after a court ruled it could not be exported. Christie’s called the ebony-decorated device "the first attempt in history to substitute the human mind with a machine."
AI has accelerated those early ambitions. In July, AI models from Google, OpenAI, and DeepSeek earned gold-level scores at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), though none achieved perfect marks, unlike five human contestants. IMO president Gregor Dolinar described AI progress in mathematics as "fascinating."
Dolinar notes that for scientific calculators of the past, using one made sense; today, it might be easier simply to ask an AI. If questions are framed correctly, AI can crunch abstract, logical problems and illustrate its reasoning. Dolinar, a University of Ljubljana engineering professor, believes physical calculators may slowly fade away—an evolution already visible to his students.
