Cherry (company)

A keyboard by Cherry

Production facility in Bayreuth

Cherry was founded by Walter Cherry in 1953 in the basement of a restaurant in Highland Park, Illinois, USA. With the passing of its founder, his son Peter took over the ownership of the organization. The company's headquarters were moved to Auerbach in der Oberpfalz, Germany in 1979. Cherry has manufactured keyboards since 1973,[1] and claims to be the oldest keyboard manufacturer still in business.[4]

In 2008, Cherry was bought by ZF Friedrichshafen AG and incorporated as the ZF Electronics GmbH Corporate Division. The Cherry brand continues to be used.

In 2019, the company attracted controversy when it offered a giveaway that excluded female gamers, resulting in a boycott by some users in China. The company argued that it would still give prizes to women, amending the giveaway.[5]

Cherry maintains production facilities in Europe (most notably in Bayreuth, Germany), Asia, and the Americas. All of its products are designed and developed at the company's headquarters in Auerbach in der Oberpfalz. It also has offices in the UK, Italy, France, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Australia and other locations, with distributors in most major countries.

Among Cherry's widely known products are its line of MX and ML key switches, including red, blue, and brown switches, that have been used in industrial electronics and point of sale environments since their inception in the 1980s, and more recently (~2008) by numerous manufacturers of consumer PC keyboards.

At CES 2017, the company announced an update of its "classic" G80-3000 keyboard, with a noise reduction. The Verge said that the new version "fixed a fatal flaw" with the company's mechanical keyboards – their clicking keyboard noises.[6] According to TechCrunch, Cherry "has long been the de facto standard for mechanical keyboard switches." Three years later, the company launches it first "fully mechanical switch" intended for the "value market," or lower cost keyboards.[7]

Currently, Cherry makes the following products:

• Keyboards
• Mice
• Card reader
• Peripheral
• MIX Technology

Cherry MX switches in consumer keyboards

Cherry MX Blue switches in an opened mechanical keyboard

Cherry MX switches—Cherry MX Blue, assembled (left) and Cherry MX Brown, opened (right)

Akwox Cherry MX 9 switch sample board

Cherry MX switches were developed and patented in the early 1980s and first marketed around 1985. In the consumer keyboard market, Cherry MX switches are often referenced by the color of the key stem—the part of the switch below the keycap which moves downward when pressed.[8]

Keyboard makers such as Cooler Master, Corsair, and G.Skill use Cherry's Cherry MX switches in their designs or "imitate them,"[9] such as Razer's Kale Green switches in the first Generation Razer Blackwidow Chroma.[10] Cherry sells its own keyboards in "modest volumes." Its MX 10. TKL keyboard lacks the tenkey section of the keyboard.[11] In 2018, the company introduced mechanical keyboard switches for thinner keyboards.[12] It makes its Cherry MX Silent switches, or Pink switches, as a range on keyboards like the Corsair K70.[13]

Most common Cherry MX switches are:

• Linear
  • Red
  • Silent Red
  • Speed Silver
  • Nature White
  • Black
  • Silent Black
  • Linear Grey
• Tactile, non-clicky
  • Brown
  • Clear
  • Tactile Grey
• Tactile and Clicky
  • Blue
  • White
  • Green

Cherry MX Grey switches can be found in Linear, Tactile, and Clicky variants. They are distinguished by stem color, with Linear being darker than Tactile. The Clicky version is no longer made. It is debated as to whether it even clicks, since it is not listed as a "click" switch by Cherry in their 1994 "Keymodule MX brochure", along with MX Whites, which are greased to reduce the click.[14] Given their use primarily in large keys like Space Bar, the feel is selected to match that of the other keys on the board.

Other types of Cherry MX switches, such as Green and Grey, are used for larger keys (Space Bar, ⇧ Shift, ↵ Enter, etc.). The feel of Cherry MX green switches are often compared to that of the "buckling spring" switches on original IBM Model M keyboards.[15] Cherry switches have an advertised lifespan of up to 100 million actuations, depending on switch type.[16]

The auditory and tactile nature of each switch, and the amount of force needed to actuate it, vary depending on the switch type:

Switch type	Clicky	Tactile	Linear	Actuation force	Tactile force	Actuation point	Total travel	Product code	Type
Red	No	No	Yes	0.45 N	N/A	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-L1xx	Normal
Silent Red	No	No	Yes	0.45 N	N/A	1.9 mm	3.7 mm	MX3A-L1xx	Normal
Speed Silver	No	No	Yes	0.45 N	N/A	1.2 mm	3.4 mm	MX1A-51xx	Normal
Nature White	No	No	Yes	0.55 N	N/A	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-41NA	Normal
Black	No	No	Yes	0.60 N	N/A	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-11xx	Normal
Silent Black	No	No	Yes	0.60 N	N/A	1.9 mm	3.7 mm	MX3A-11xx	Normal
Linear Grey	No	No	Yes	0.80 N	N/A	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-21xx	Larger keys
Brown	No	Yes	No	0.45 N	0.55 N	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-G1xx	Normal
Clear	No	Yes	No	0.55 N	0.65 N	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-C1xx	Larger keys
Tactile Grey	No	Yes	No	0.80 N	0.80 N	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-D1xx	Larger keys
Blue	Yes	Yes	No	0.50 N	0.60 N	2.2 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-E1xx	Normal
White / new White	Yes	Yes	No	0.50 N / 0.70 N	0.60 N / 0.80 N	2.0 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-A1xx	Normal / Larger keys
Green	Yes	Yes	No	0.70 N	0.80 N	2.2 mm	4.0 mm	MX1A-F1xx	Larger keys

In 2008, Cherry's production facility in Bayreuth received the Bayerischer Qualitätspreis 2008 award.[17] At the end of 2006, Cherry received the Automotive Lean Production Award of the German economy magazine Automobil-Produktion. In 2005, Cherry GmbH in Auerbach received the Industrial Excellence Award as best European industrial facility.

• List of mechanical keyboards

• Cherry website
• Cherry switches website
• ZF Switches & Sensors website (previously Cherry Switches)
• Overview of Cherry mechanical switches
• Cherry MX mechanical switches guide (with sounds of each switch)