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hisense

Hisense – Producing Electronics Worldwide Over The Past 50 Years.

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Hisense has dedicated itself to creating groundbreaking consumer electronics over the past 50 years. The corporation is currently one of the top producers of electronics worldwide. It has established 54 abroad businesses and offices, uses five top-tier international production sites in Europe, Central America, and South Africa, and has 18 R&D centres internationally. The company has a customer base in over 160 countries.

About The Company

Hisense Group is a global Chinese manufacturer of electronics and major appliances with its headquarters in Shandong Province, China. Hisense’s primary line of business is televisions, and since 2004, it has held the most significant market share among Chinese TV manufacturers. They sell items under the brands Hisense, Gorenje, Toshiba, Sharp, Kelon, and Ronshen. As an OEM, Hisense sells some of its goods to other businesses under brand names unrelated to Hisense. Hisense H.A and Hisense Visual Technology., two significant subsidiaries of the Hisense Group, are publicly listed corporations. By 2020, the state-owned more than 30% of each enterprise through the Hisense holding company. The Hisense Group includes 14 industrial parks with more than 80,000 employees, some of which are situated in Shunde, Huzhou, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and South Africa. Additionally, there are 18 R&D facilities spread across locations like Qingdao, Shenzhen, the US, Germany, Slovenia, Israel, etc.

Hisense
Image source: www.homeappliancesworld.com

History

Hisense Group’s forerunner, Qingdao No.2 Radio Factory, was founded in 1969. The modest factory’s initial offering was a radio marketed under the Red Lantern brand, but thanks to a trial run of black-and-white televisions that the Shandong National Defense Office bought, the business later acquired the know-how to produce TVs. This entailed the specialized training of three workers at a different Chinese factory, Tianjin 712, and led to the creation of transistor TVs by 1975 and the manufacturing of 82 televisions by 1971. In 1978, the CJD18, their debut TV model, was launched. Until 1979, there was little television production in China, but a Beijing session of the Ministry of Electronics urged the growth of the civil-use electronics sector. The Qingdao No.2 Radio Factory then swiftly combined with other regional electronics producers and started producing televisions in Shandong province under the banner Qingdao General Television Factory. In April 1997, the Shanghai Stock Exchange officially listed the Hisense Electrical Appliance Share Holding Company (now known as Hisense Electrical Co Ltd). Hisense benefited from increased rivalry and fierce prices in the Chinese electronics sector in the 1990s by acquiring ten bankrupt businesses by 1998. Hisense Group sought to emerge as a frontrunner in home appliances, computers, and communications in addition to consumer electronics. This policy led to significant financial investments in R&D, the construction of industrial zones, etc. It created a specific kind of translucent 3D television in 2013. In 2015, Sharp sold a Mexican factory to Hisense for $23.7 million, along with the right to use the Sharp name on television sets sold in South and North America. It acquired 95.4% of the shares in Slovenian appliance producer Gorenje in 2018, becoming the company’s largest stakeholder. It unveiled the world’s first 8K 10 bit HDR screen TV in 2020. Its image quality engine boasts 6.5T supercomputing power and is built on an AI-powered HDR algorithm. It declared the introduction of its first 4K Fire TV in May 2022.

Products And Services

Hisense develops white goods, television sets, digital TV broadcasting devices, laptops, set-top boxes, cell phones, wireless components, wireless PC cards, and optical components. In addition, it offers a wide range of services, such as property administration, IT support, product design, mould design, pattern making, and mould processing and production. Furthermore, It is among the few manufacturers of smartphones with an e-ink display.

Founder – Zhou Houjian

After graduating, Zhou Houjian was hired as a technician at the Qingdao Television Factory. He advanced through the ranks, becoming a supervisor, an assistant factory director, and, at age 35, the factory director. Based on his experience at the Qingdao Television factory, Zhou founded Hisense Group in 1994. Today, Hisense Group is one of China’s foremost manufacturers of home appliances, with distribution operations in more than 100 nations.

Creative Technology

Creative Technology – Started From Preparing Add-On Memory Board For The Apple II PC.

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Creative Technology Limited is a Singaporean Multinational consumer Electronics firm. It was founded in 1981 by two childhood friends having its headquarters in Jurong, Singapore. Also, It has overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin, and Silicon Valley. Its branch in the United States is known as Creative labs. Sim Woo Hong is the Chief Executive Officer of Creative Labs. Its Chief Financial Officer is Ng Kai Wa, who also played a Crucial role in its foundation.

Creative Labs provide services such as design, manufacture, and distribution of digitalized video and sound boards, computers, and related multimedia and personal digital entertainment products. It collaborates with mainboard manufacturer companies and renowned laptop brands to embed its Sound Blaster technology on its products.

History

Creative Technology Limited was founded 41 years ago, on 1st July 1981, by two childhood and Ngee Ann polytechnic schoolmates. It was first established in Jurong, Singapore. Then it expanded to various countries overseas. Initially, It was just a computer repair center located in Chinatown. The firm prepared an add-on memory board for the Apple II PC. After that, it spent nearly 500,000 USD on creating the Cubic CT, an IBM-compatible computer advanced for the Chinese language containing innovative features like enhanced colour graphics and a built-in audio board capable of generating speech and melodies. Since there was no demand for multilingual PCs and the availability of only a few multimedia software applications, it became a massive failure.

Sim decided to establish a creative technology subsidiary, Creative Labs in Silicon Valley united states. He convinced Many software Developers to offer their assistance in supporting their sound card, renamed game Blaster, marketed by RadioShack’s Tandy division. It became a huge success and resulted in the development of a Standalone Sound Blaster Sound Card.

In 1992, former Ashton-Tate CEO Ed Esber joined creative labs as Chief Executive Officer for the proper management and company’s rapid growth. He brought together a team of US executives consisting of talented personalities such as Rich Buchanan (graphics), Rich Sorkin (sound products, communication, OEM, and business development), and Gail Pomerantz (marketing). This team played a crucial role in lifting the shares market. Specifically, Rich Sorkin drastically enhanced the firm’s brand position via crisp licensing. However, the Esber team and the founders had some strategy and positioning-related opinion differences. So, they gave up their positions in 1995, except for Sorkin. He was promoted to general manager of audio communication products and afterward vice-president of business development and corporate investments. In 1996, He also left creative labs and went to work in Elon Musk’s first startup and internet explorer zip2.

Creative Technology
Image source: external-preview.redd.it

Revenue

Due to the Sound Blaster’s massive success, there was an immense revenue increase. It increased from 5.4 million USD in 1989 to 650 million USD in 1994. By 1996, the firm’s revenue reached 1.6 billion USD. Currently, its annual revenue is 84 million USD (2021).

Renowned Products

It became famous for its sound blaster in the 1980s and creative X-fi Sonic carrier in 2016.

Court Cases

Creative technology sued Aureal claiming patent violation over a MIDI technology controlled by E-mu Systems on 5 march 1998 with Aureal filing a counterclaim for defamation and indulging in unfair competition to damage them. After the launch of sound Blaster, they filed another suit against Aureal which went bankrupt due to expenses and investor pressure in 1999. Creative technology acquired it in 2000.

Subsidiaries

It has many Divisions and brands overseas which are the following:

  • Cambridge SoundWorks
  • Creative MuVo
  • Creative NOMAD
  • Creative ZEN
  • E-mu Systems/Ensoniq
  • Sound Blaster
  • SoundFont
  • ZiiLABS (previously 3Dlabs)

Founder – Sim Wong Hoo (Weng fu Shen)

Sim Woo Hong is a Singaporean Inventor, a billionaire, and a great entrepreneur. He was born in 1955 and studied at Bukit Panjang Government High School. He graduated from Ngee Ann polytechnic university in Electrical and Electronic engineering. He has won many awards for his inventions which include, Singapore’s Public star medal and Asia’s Businessman of the year in 2001. He became the youngest billionaire at the age of 45. He also authored a book named “chaotic Thoughts from The Old Millennium”.

Electrolux

Electrolux – Manufacturing Household Appliances Since 1919.

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Electrolux is a Swedish Global household appliance manufacturing company founded in 1919. Its headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. Alex Wenner Gren was the founder of Electrolux. After the whirlpool, It is ranked the world’s second-largest household appliance manufacturing firm by units sold. Jonas Samuelson is the president and CEO of Electrolux. They are the number one manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and other home appliances. It reached a revenue of 13.82 billion U.S. dollars (2021) and was listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange.

History

It was established from the merger of two companies Svenska Elektron AB and Lux AB, which were closely related. Elektromekaniska AB was a Svenska Elektron AB acquisition which turned into Electrolux in 1919. Elecktrolux was changed to Electrolux in 1957. In the early stages, It supplied Lux branded vacuum cleaners in several European countries. In 1923, it started selling absorption refrigerators by acquiring AB Arctic. It also added washing machines in 1951, dishwashers in 1959, and food service equipment in 1962 to its product line. It made a stock launch in 1928 on the London Stock Exchange and got delisted in 2010. The

Electrolux name was also used by another North American vacuum manufacturing company Aerus LLC, established to sell Swedish Electrolux products which transferred trading rights back to Electrolux in 2000 and stopped using its name in 2004. In 2011, Keith McLoughlin became the company’s first non-Swedish chief executive officer and president

Electrolux
Image source: news.microsoft.com

Acquisitions and Mergers

Electrolux advanced constantly and day by day through its mergers and acquisitions. It acquired companies such as ElektroHelios, Norwegian, Elektra, Danish Atlas, Finnish Slev, and Flymo from 1960 to 1969. followed the same technique in the 1990s and expanded immensely through its M&A activity. It also purchased scores of a company named Husqvarna. It was really unstable and decentralized after its huge expansion. Its president and later chairman of the board, Hans Werthen, became its backbone and led it through its crucial time. The company’s restructuring was done in the late 1990s to cut operational costs. It was acquired from Sigdo Koppers In 2011 and in February 2017 it decided to acquire, Anova Applied Electronics, a U.S.-based provider of the Precision cooker.

Revenue

The company has recorded stable revenues for the past few years, holding between 12 to 15 billion dollars. It reached revenue of 12 billion dollars in 2009, slightly decreased in 2010 and 2011 and regained in 2012. It has been rising since then. It has achieved a revenue of 13.82 dollars in 2021, making it the highest revenue achieved in that decade. Recently, it also shares trade on Nordic markets.

Renowned Products

• The Lux vacuum, sold in 1919 is the first product of Electrolux.

• Electrolux’s first absorption refrigerator was manufactured in 1925.

• Electrolux model 30 vacuum, launched in 1937.

• A mixer or food processor, a wartime consumer product in 1940.

• Electrolux SMLE Model lee-Enfield which was the replacement for Bren gun made from out-of-service Lee Enfield for home guard soldiers in 1941.

• Electrolux’s first Washing Machine, 1951 manufactured in Gothenburg.

• Company’s first dishwasher, Named “round jar” in 1959.

• Electrolux trilobite is a robotic vacuum cleaner, launched in 2001.

Alex Wenner Gren – Founder

He was a great Swedish Entrepreneur. In the 1930s, He was considered one of the wealthiest men. He was born in Uddevalla, Sweden on 5 June 1881. He learned many languages such as English, French, and German at the local Berlitz school. He also learned music at YMCA. In 1902 when he was 21 went to Germany for further studies. He developed his skills as a salesman at Alfa Laval, where he sold agricultural machines. He brought the idea that vacuum cleaners can be used for domestic use too. After the first World War, he managed to persuade Lux to buy a patent for a home vacuum cleaner. In the 1930s vacuum cleaner became a success. Making Electrolux a leading brand in the industry. He also tried to avert World War II but was unsuccessful. He was not only a businessman but a great human being too. He rescued over three hundred war survivors.

Jonas Samuelson – CEO

He was born in 1968 in Sweden. He holds a Master of Science degree In Economics and Business Administration from the school of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He worked in Saab Automobile AB in various positions in finance. He also worked in General Motors Corporation. He was the former CEO of Munters AB and also the company’s major shareholder.

Daewoo Electronics

Daewoo Electronics – The Third Biggest Electronics Company In South Korea.

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Daewoo Electronics, now known as Winia Electronics, is a leading South Korean consumer electronics company. Since its founding in 1971, the company has expanded into a global enterprise with more than 64 manufacturing facilities, R&D centres, and sales offices across more than 40 nations.

About The Company

The UK arm of the company, known as Daewoo Electronics Sales UK, was founded in 1993. It is now the third biggest electronics company in South Korea. The UK operation manufactures a variety of consumer home appliances like freezers, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, ovens, etc. The company also acts as an OEM(original equipment manufacturer) to former Daewoo Motors subsidiaries like GM Korea and Tata Daewoo by supplying them with various automotive accessories and equipment. The company also ventured into the computer space by manufacturing Daewoo CPC-300, which was based on the MSX standard. The CPC-300 and CPC-300E are the two different models of this computer. 

History

Daewoo Electronics was part of the Daewoo Group founded by Kim Woo Choong. The parent company was declared bankrupt in 1999 because of the Asian financial crisis. Before this economic crisis, the Daewoo Group had a considerable presence in South Korea, where it was the second-biggest conglomerate after Hyundai Group. After the bankruptcy, the company was owned by a group of creditors.

Daewoo Electronics
Image source: financialtribune.com

Acquisition

In 2010 Entekhab Industrial Group of Iran offered the creditors to buy Daewoo Electronics for $529 million. The Iranian company had to compete with a Sweden company named Electrolux for this acquisition. The creditors accepted Entekhab’s offer and signed a deal. Entekhab made a security deposit worth 49$ million to the creditors. However, in June 2011, Daewoo’s creditors, led by the government-run Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO), terminated the agreement and kept the deposit after Entekhab missed a payment deadline and requested a discount. The creditors and KAMCO also began talks with Electrolux to sell the company. Entekhab stated that they believed the termination of the agreement to be unlawful and threatened to take legal steps to prevent the company’s sale to Electrolux. Later, Entekhab requested the deposit’s recovery, but the creditors rejected it, blaming Entekhab for the cancellation. The matter eventually went to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ruled in favor of the Iranian company and ordered 62.9$ million in compensation to them.  

In 2013 Daewoo Electronics was bought by the Dongbu Group( DB Group) in a deal worth 270$ million. In 2018, Daewoo Electronics was sold by the DB Group to Winia Group. 

Jinkyun Choi – CEO

In 2014, Choi Jin-Kyun took over as the CEO and vice-chairman of Daewoo Electronics replacing Lee Jae-Hyung. Lee, who had served the company as CEO for 15 months, had to resign from his position owing to his health concerns. Choi spent three years as the vice president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division before joining Daewoo Electronics. At Samsung, Mr. Choi created high-end consumer electronics. He took part in aggressive marketing campaigns, turning around the Samsung consumer electronics business’s position that had been losing money for a while. He helped Samsung Electronics reach a 10 percent or more significant global market share for home appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

High-quality products that consumers can trust have helped Daewoo Electronics establish itself as a trusted household name. The company focuses on its customer support services while emphasizing quality, creativity, and performance. Through this use of cutting-edge technology and a dedication to creativity, durability, value, and perfection in design, Daewoo Electronics still maintains a good position in the consumer electronics market. 

Ricoh

Ricoh – Specializes in Digital Services & Printing Solutions.

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The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research decided to establish Rikagaku Kogyo to market the results of its research and development. Riken Kankoshi Co., Ltd. (renamed Riken Optical Co., Ltd. in 1938 and Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963) was founded in 1936 by Rikagaku Kogyo to make and market sensitized paper. In 1937, Ricoh began selling cameras. It established Japan’s first mass manufacturing structure for cameras in 1950, boosting customer interest in the device. In 1955, the Ricopy 101 was introduced as the company’s first business machine.

About The Company

Ricoh Co Ltd (Ricoh) is a company that specializes in office and printing goods and services. Copiers, printers, network equipment, and related supplies and services are available from the company. Wide-format printers, scanners, personal computers, servers, cut sheet printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, thermal sheets, precision mechanical components, optical equipment, digital cameras, thermal media, and electrical components are also available from Ricoh. Document-related services and solutions, related customer services, support, communication services, IT services, application and business process services, and financial services are all part of Ricoh’s service portfolio. The business has activities in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Ricoh’s headquarters are in Tokyo’s Ohta-Ku neighborhood.

Ricoh
Image source: www.swiftoffice.net

Acquisitions And Mergers

In the last five years, the Ricoh Company has purchased 14 enterprises Two of the acquisitions were made by private equity groups.

The Ricoh Company made its largest acquisition to date in 2008, when it paid $1.6 billion for IKON Office Solutions. The Ricoh Company has made acquisitions in five different US states and five other nations. Information technology (29 percent) and internet software and services are the top targeted areas for the company (22 percent).

Global Expansion

It boosted Ricoh’s solution capabilities by strengthening its worldwide sales network. To develop a global sales support structure, we bought Danka Business Systems PLC’s European operations in 2006 and IKON Office Solutions, Inc. in 2008.

With the IMAGIO 320, they invented the versatile digital copier for the office in 1987. They popularised digital models in 1996 when they introduced the imagio MF200, a small and economical copier. Following that, it released networkable and color options. Ricoh Asia Industry (Shenzhen) Ltd. was established to strengthen our foreign production structure. In 1995, we expanded our international sales network by acquiring Savin Corporation and Gestetner Holdings PLC.

Since the millennium began, they have strengthened its environmental and corporate social responsibility programs. For example, they were the second Japanese corporation to join the United Nations Global Compact in 2002. Their efforts earned them the Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development from the World Environment Center in 2003, making them the first Asian company to win such an accolade.

CEO- Yoshinori Yamashita

Yoshinori Yamashita is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ricoh, a Computer Equipment & peripheral firm founded in 1936 with an estimated 81.2 thousand people They are a member of the Executive team inside the C-Suite Department, and their management level is C-Level.. Yoshinori is currently based in Tokyo, Japan, after graduating from Hiroshima National University.

Yamashita noted that after becoming Ricoh’s president in 2017, he has “re-accelerated the practice of the spirit of three loves.” He has prioritized the provision of non-financial information to stakeholders and engagement with them as part of this initiative. Ricoh became the first Japanese company to join the RE100, an international program encouraging enterprises to convert to 100 percent renewable electricity, twenty days after assuming the position.

Ricoh became the only Asian founding member of Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG), an international program aiming at encouraging diversity in workplaces and supply chains, in 2019. It has made progress in bridging the digital divide. Yamashita has tried to ensure that the perspectives of Japanese and Asians are reflected in the development of worldwide ESG regulations.

Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics – Story of a company from Radio Row to the Fortune 500 list.

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Arrow Electronics is a very famous Fortune 500 company established in the electronics industry. The company mainly focuses on distribution and other value-added services of various electronic components. Currently, Arrow Electronics is the largest US company in terms of total revenue. The journey of this multinational conglomerate began with a retail store in Manhattan opened by Maurice Goldberg in 1935. Today, the headquarters of the company is based in Centennial, Colorado. It is a publicly traded company with more than 19,000 employees. Michael J. Long is the present CEO and President of the company.

The Founding Story Of Arrow Electronics

In 1935, Maurice Goldberg opened a retail store called Arrow Radio on Cortlandt Street. This place was situated in lower Manhattan and it was very famous for Radio Row where the distribution of various electronic components began. Maurice established Arrow Radio to sell radios and various radio parts to retail customers. The sale for both radio and its parts peaked during the 1940s and the company decided to seek a franchise to sell new parts. Apart from selling radios from companies like Philco, GE, and RCA, two companies including RCA and Cornell Dubilier first franchised Arrow. Finally, the organization, Arrow Electronics was incorporated in 1946.

Arrow Electronics
Image source: bizj.us

Expansion Of Arrow Electronics

After Arrow Electronics was incorporated, the company received some additional franchises in the 1950s and started selling electronic components to industrial firms. Since the sales of the company were increasing it decided to open another office in Long Island in 1956. The company decided to file its first IPO in 1961 and thus it was able to list its share in the American Stock Exchange. During this time, the total sales of the company summed up to $4 million.

Gradually, the industrial division of the company started to dominate as industrial customers were more in number. The expansion continued as Arrow Electronics opened additional offices in New Jersey, Totowa, Norwalk, and Conneticut. In the 1960s, Company shifted its headquarters to Farmingdale, New York, and gain in 2011 shifted to Colorado.

In 1968, there was a change in the ownership of Arrow Electronics as three graduates from the Harvard Business School, Glenn, Green, and Waddell acquired the controlling interest of the company. These three investors led a private investor group and they acquired Arrow as they saw it as an opportunity to consolidate the fallen pieces of the electronics industry. In the early 1970s, Company ranked 12 in the list of US electronics distributors while Avnet topped the list.

This decade also witnessed the growth of Arrow’s electronics business as it won the semiconductor franchises led by Texas Instruments. During this time the company opened 20 new sales offices in the US. By the end of the decade, the electronics distribution business of Arrow was a big hit and the sales escalated to $177 million. From number 12, the company became the second-largest electronics distributor in the US.

Present Days

Through frequent public bond offerings, the company tried to fund its growth along with some acquisitions. Till the end of the 1960s, Arrow continued its retail operation and it ceased to operate in the 1970s. Arrow exclusively focused on the electronics business and established a real-time computer system to make the business more productive. In 1979, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and by the end of the year, it made a major acquisition that helped it gain customers from the Western US. The acquisition of the company continued as it acquired Kierulff Electronics to adopt a new growth strategy.

During this time, Stephen Kaufman, a former partner of McKinsey & Company joined Arrow as the President of the Electronics Distribution Division. And, it was under his leadership that the company expanded into Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. It also completed acquiring more than 50 companies and reached global sales of $9 billion at the beginning of the 21st century.

Michael J. Long – CEO

Michael Long joined Arrow Electronics in 1991 when the company merged with Schweber Electronics. In 1994, Long became the President of Capstone Electronics, a company under Arrow and in May 2009 became the CEO of Arrow Electronics. Long has a business degree from the University of Wisconsin.