This is a photo of a Facit calculator I took in Sri Lanka.
Facit mechanical calculators were designed and manufactured by the Swedish giant Facit AB, which was founded about a hundred years ago.
I think this particular one was Facit Model TK, and it was produced between the thirties and sixties.
Facit would go on to become a giant, employing thousands of employees globally.
However, the advent of electronic calculators in the sixties would put a brake on its growth and its collaboration with a Japanese company to produce electronic calculators eventually fizzled out.
The company was sold to various others and eventually was shut down in the nineties.
The Facit TrapThe story of Facit has led to its own theory - the Facit Trap - which is the trap companies fall into when they are unable to follow a technological change/shift - in this case the switch from mechanical to electronic calculators - even when the resources - talent and financial - are available. Some experts say that Facit had everything needed to keep it going yet failed to see the changing technological landscape.
