Siemens AG

From Free net encyclopedia

Siemens AG (Template:FWB, Template:Nyse) is the world's largest electronics company. Its international headquarters are in Berlin and Munich, Germany. Siemens AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and also on the New York Stock Exchange since March 12, 2001.

Worldwide, Siemens and its subsidiaries employ 461,000 people (2005) in 190 countries and reported global sales of €75.4 billion in fiscal year 2005.

1 History
- 1.1 Post-war
- 1.2 Chief Executives
2 Key business areas and subsidiary companies of Siemens AG
3 Products
4 Some of Siemens' recently acquired companies
5 Management
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

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History

Siemens Official History Web Site

Siemens was founded by Werner von Siemens on October 1, 1847, based on the telegraph he had invented that used a needle to point to the sequence of letters, instead of using the Morse code. The company – then called Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske – took occupation of its workshop on October 12.

In 1848, the company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe, spanning 500 km from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1850 the founder's younger brother, Sir William Siemens (born Carl Wilhelm Siemens), started to represent the company in London. In the 1850s, the company was involved in building long distance telegraph networks in Russia. In 1855, a company branch opened in St Petersburg, headed by another brother, Carl von Siemens.

In 1881, a Siemens AC Alternator, driven by a watermill, was used to power the world's first electric street lighting in the town of Godalming, United Kingdom. The company continued to grow and diversified into electric trains and light bulbs. In 1890, the founder retired and left the company to his brother Carl and sons Arnold and Wilhelm. Siemens & Halske (S&H) was incorporated in 1897.

In 1919, S&H and two other companies jointly formed the Osram lightbulb company. A Japanese subsidiary was established in 1923.

During the 1920s and 1930s, S&H started to manufacture radios, television sets, and electron microscopes. Before World War II Siemens was involved in the secret rearmament of Germany.

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Post-war

In the 1950s, S&H started to manufacture computers, semiconductor devices, laundry machines, and heart pace makers. Siemens AG was incorporated in 1966. The company's first digital telephone exchange was produced in 1980. In 1988 Siemens and GEC acquired the UK defense and technology company Plessey. The holdings of Plessey were split; Siemens taking over the avionics, radar and traffic control businesses — renamed Siemens Plessey.

In 1990, Siemens acquired failing Nixdorf Computer Company and renamed it Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG. This company has since turned profitable under the stewardship of Gerhard Schumeyer. In 1997 Siemens introduced the first GSM cellular phone with color display. Also in 1997 Siemens agreed with British Aerospace and DASA the sale of the defence arm of Siemens Plessey. BAe and DASA acquired the British and German arms of the operation respectively.

In 1999, Siemens' semiconductor operations were spun off into a new company known as Infineon Technologies. Also, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG formed part of Fujitsu Siemens Computers AG in that year.

In 2005 the Taiwanese company BenQ acquired the financially bleeding mobile phone subsidiary from Siemens and gained the exclusive right to use Siemens trademark for 5 years. Before transferring the mobile phone subsidiary to BenQ, Siemens invested 250 million euros and wrote off assets amounting to 100 million euros (www.newratings.com: Siemens sells mobile phone unit to BenQ). Siemens also acquired a 2.5% stake in BenQ for 50 million euros.

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Chief Executives

Werner von Siemens (1847-1890)
Wilhelm von Siemens (1890-1919)
Carl Friedrich von Siemens (1919-1941)
Hermann von Siemens (1941-1956)
Ernst von Siemens (1956-1968)
Gerd Tacke (1968-1971)
Bernhard Plettner (1971-1981)
Karlheinz Kaske (1981-1992)
Heinrich von Pierer (1992-2005)
Klaus Kleinfeld (since 2005)

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Key business areas and subsidiary companies of Siemens AG

Communication and Information
Automation and Control
Power
Transportation and Automotive
Medical
Lighting (Osram)
Financing
Real Estate
Home Appliances
Water Technologies (USFilter)
Computers (Fujitsu Siemens)
Business Services (Siemens Business Services GmbH)
Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices (SHOCD), a domotics company from the previous Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) Division. Based in Munich.

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Products

Combino, ULF, and Avanto trams
Desiro, ICE, and Transrapid trains
Gigaset, Home entertainment products, including Gigaset M740 AV, a set-top box to receive TDT and integrate it in a domestic network (using W-LAN or cable), i.e. for home streaming media.
Hicom Trading E
Hicom 300
HiPath
MSR32R
EWSD telephone exchanges
SPX 2000 small digital telephone exchange (rural)
Siemens Gigaset cordless telephones
Siemens Mobile Phones - divested to BenQ in 2005
Siemens SPPA-T2000 Control System (formerly Teleperm XP)
Siemens SPPA-T3000 Control System
Radio and core products for 2G and 3G Mobile Networks (GSM, UMTS, ...)
Gas & Steam Turbines
Industrial programmable controls (including Simatic PLC, and Logo! microcontrollers)
The Siemens Servo life support ventilator line
MAGNETOM(TM) Espree
SOMATOM(R) Definition CT
SOMATOM(R) Sensation CT
SOMATOM(R) Emotion CT
AXIOM Artis
AXIOM Sensis
Symbia TruePoint SPECT-CT