Editing Alps Electric

{{Infobox Company
| company_name     = Alps Electric Co., Ltd.<br/>{{lang|jp|アルプス電気株式会社}}
| company_logo     = [[File:Alps Electric logo.svg|200px]]
| vector_logo      =
| company_type     = 
| foundation       = 1948
| founder          = Katsutaro Kataoka
| location_city    = Ota, Tokyo
| location_country = Japan
| key_people       = 
| industry         = Electronic devices
| homepage         = {{URL|http://www.alpsalpine.com/}}
| footnotes        =
| fcc              = CWT (Alps Electric, Japan)<br>GYI (Alps Electric USA)
}}

'''Alps Electric Co.''' is a Japanese company that is known in the keyboard community primarily for the [[Alps SKCL/SKCM series]] of mechanical keyswitches. Though Alps SKCL/SKCM switches have not been in production for many years, [[Alps clone]] switches are still manufactured today.

The company name "Alps" is often mistakenly written as in all caps—"ALPS"—based on the Alps logotype. The correct capitalization is "Alps".<ref name="Alps-history" /> "ALPs" is another common incorrect capitalization.

Since 2019 the company is known as '''Alps Alpine''' after merging with Alpine, a former, separate joint venture   of Alps Electric and Motorola that started itself in 1967 as '''Alps Motorola'''.<ref name="AlpsAlpine" />

==Alps Electric (USA)==
[[File:Alps Electric USA Former Headquarters 2021.JPG|thumb|Former headquarters and manufacturing plant of Alps Electric USA in Garden Grove, California.]]
Alps Electric (USA), who were a major supplier to Apple, bought the Accessory Products Division from Apple.<ref name="oldmouse-Alps-USA" />

==Overseas joint ventures==
Alps Electric has established several overseas joint ventures; these include:

*[[Gold Star Alps Electronics]] in Korea, established in August 1970; GoldStar is now LG, and it appears that Alps may have renewed the venture in 1996<ref name="Alps-history" />
*[[Forward Electronics]] in Taiwan, established in December 1970; this 30-year venture ended in 2000

==Products==
*[[:Category:Alps switches|Alps switches]]
*[[:Category:Alps keyboards|Alps keyboards]]
*[[:Category:Alps keycap families|Alps keycap families]]

==Gallery==
===Keycaps===
Alps double-shot keycaps have distinctive styles that makes them easy to recognise. Evidence suggests that they were only ever sold with keyboards made by Alps, and they have been found on keyboards with a variety of Alps switches, including [[Alps SKFL]], [[Alps integrated dome]] and [[Alps SKCL/SKCM series]].<ref name="keycap-topic" />

As with other double-shot manufacturers, the moulding patterns vary between keycaps.

<gallery widths=250 heights=187>
Alps double-shot -- NeXT keyboard.jpg                         | Alps double-shot keycap from a NeXT keyboard ([[Alps SKCM Black]])
Alps integrated dome -- Alps mount square -- disassembled.jpg | Alps double-shot keycap on an [[Alps integrated dome]] keyboard
Alps double-shot -- IBM 5556 keycaps top assorted.jpg         | Assorted [[IBM Multistation Keyboards|IBM 5556]] keycaps, top view
Alps double-shot -- IBM 5556 keycaps underside assorted.jpg   | Assorted IBM 5556 keycaps, underside, showing the different moulding patterns
Alps double-shot -- IBM 5556 keycap underside detail.jpg      | Detail of IBM 5556 keycap
Alps two-piece dye-sub keycaps.jpg                            | Alps two-piece dye-sub keycaps from the [[IBM 5576-002 Keyboard|IBM 5576-002 keyboard]]
</gallery>

===Logos===
<gallery widths=250 heights=187>
Alps Electric logo 1960s-1980s.svg | Artistic recreation of the 1960s–1980s logo based on a number of sources; this logo showed noticeable variation over time
Alps Electric logo.svg             | Current logo (approximation)
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[:Category:Keyboards with Alps switches|Keyboards with Alps switches]]
*[[Alps keyboard codes]]
*[[:Category:Alps specifications|Alps specifications]]
*[[:Category:Clones of Alps SKCL/SKCM switches|Clones of Alps SKCL/SKCM switches]]

==References==
<references>
<ref name="keycap-topic">Deskthority — [http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/alps-as-a-doubleshot-manufacturer-t7296.html Alps as a doubleshot manufacturer?]</ref>
<ref name="Alps-history">Alps Electric — [https://www.alpsalpine.com/e/about/history_alps.html {{sq|About Alps}} History]</ref>
<ref name="oldmouse-Alps-USA">oldmouse.com — [http://www.oldmouse.com/mouse/apple/lisa.shtml Apple Lisa Mouse]</ref>
<ref name="AlpsAlpine">Alps Alpine — [https://www.alpsalpine.com/e/about/history.html History]</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Japanese brands & companies]]
[[Category:OEM companies]]
[[Category:Contemporary brands & companies]]
[[Category:List of all brands & companies]]