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Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric – The Biggest Sustainable Electric Equipment Manufactures.

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Schneider Electric is a well-known electrical equipment development company, serving all over the world. The company has been there in the industry for the past 185 years and taking its legacy to another level with its excellence. Along with providing the best electric products, the company keeps sustainability in mind and curates its products based on that. From homes to data centers and from real-time automation to software, Schneider Electric has covered it all. The company is operational in over a hundred countries with more than twenty subsidiaries and 20,000 patents registered. It is a publically traded company that has also registered its name under the Fortune Global 500 list.

About the Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric SA is a French electric company, founded back in 1836. Its headquarters is in Rueil-Malmaison, France, and offers its services to its worldwide customers having its offices and manufacturing plants established in over a hundred countries. Schneider Electric has over 135,000 people working for it, in more than twenty subsidiaries, such as Luminous Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd., APC, Areva T&D, Federal Pioneer, TAC, and Zicom, etc. As per 2019 records, the company made revenue worth €27.2 billion and holds assets worth €45 billion. Schneider Electric energy and automation digital solutions, such as building automation, home automation, electric power distribution, industrial safety services, etc.

Schneider Electric
Image source: zawya.com

The Beginning and Growth

Schneider brothers Eugène Schneider and Adolphe Schneider acquired mines and forges at Le Creusot, France, to establish a steel and machinery factory in 1936. After two years, the founders named their company Schneider & Cie, which later became one of the leading steel companies in the area and remained in that position for the next 50 years. In 1891, Schneider started to invest in the electricity business, as it was one of the emerging fields of that time. The new business started to grow rapidly, and in 1919, Schneider started its international expansion entering Germany and Eastern Europe.
Like every other big company, the two world wars were very crucial for Schneider. As soon as the second world war ended, Schneider started to grow at an even faster pace. In 1949, the company decided to restructure its operations and planned multiple acquisitions. In 1975, the company acquired a share in one of the biggest electric equipment manufacturing companies of France named Merlin Gerin. In the next two decades, it went on to acquire names like Télémécanique (1988), Square D (1991), and Lexel (1999). In May 1999, the company was renamed Schneider Electric from its century-old name Schneider & Cie.
In the year 2000, Schneider Electric moved its headquarters to Rueil-Malmaison, France. During the same time, it established the Schneider Electric Foundation, an organization to spread awareness about sustainability and emerging economics. In 2010, the company started to invest in software, critical power and grid applications. Schneider also introduced a new program named Life is On that promoted sustainability and efficiency. The same year, Schneider Electric also established a venture capital firm to support new startups.
In 2014, the company partnered with the German power supplier RWE, and in the next year, it introduced EcoStruxure, an IoT-enabled architecture. Its acquisition of British retail brand Tower Electric in 2016 helped it strengthen its position in Europe. In 2019, the company launched a cross-industry digital ecosystem named Scheider Electric Exchange. The next year, it acquired companies like RIB Software and ProLeiT AG. The same year it introduced smart equipment for better electricity distribution, specifically for Nigeria.

The CEO at Schneider Electric

Jean-Pascal Tricoire, a renowned Fench businessman is the current CEO and the chairman of Schneider Electric. He was born on 11 May 1963 in Beaupréau, France. Tricoire is an Electronic engineering graduate and holds an MBA from EM LYON Business School. Before joining Schneider, he has worked with multiple famous companies.
Tricoire started his career at Alcatel, Schlumberger and joined Saint-Gobain afterwards. In 1986, he was working at Merlin Gerin. As in 1992, Schneider took over the company, he became a part of the company too. After working in different branches of Schneider Electric in Italy, China and South Africa, he was appointed as the Head of Schneider Electric’s Global Strategic Accounts. In January 2002, he became the Vice President of the International Division of the company, and in October 2003, he was announced the Deputy CEO and COO of Schneider Electric. Finally, in 2006, he was promoted to be the CEO of Schneider Electric SA.

Sanyo Electric

Sanyo Electric – Story of a Japanese Company Which has Become a Subsidiary of Panasonic.

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The foundation story of Sanyo Electric dates back to the late 1940s when Toshio Lue started his entrepreneurial journey. Sanyo Electric was officially launched in 1949 and its headquarters were based in Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan. In 2009, the company became a subsidiary of Panasonic when the latter acquired a 50.2 percent stake in Sanyo. Currently, the company operates under Panasonic and it is flourishing in the electronics industry. Some of the main products sold by the company are dry batteries, cellular phones, and consumer electronics. When the company was independent it had more than 230 subsidiaries and was a member of Fortune Global 500.

Origin of Sanyo Electric

Toshio Lue, before founding Sanyo Electric, was an employee at Matsushita (now Panasonic Corporation). He was the brother-in-law of the founder of Matsushita and he started building his business in an unused company plant lent to him. He started working for his start-up in 1947 and finally incorporated it after two years. In 1952, Sanyo Electric made the first plastic radio of Japan, and then in 1954 rolled out the nation’s first pulsator type washing machine. Being the first company to launch new electric appliances in the nation got Sanyo on the radar.

From the early 1970s, the company eventually planned to expand overseas and entered the American market. The demand for Sanyo’s products increased in the North American market when it started selling a vast range of consumer electronics like car stereos and home audio equipment. Sanyo started marketing extensively through television-based advertising. The expansion of Sanyo in the American market was possible because of Howard Ladd who became Executive Vice President and COO of the company in 1969.

Sanyo Electric
Image source: wikimedia.org

Expansion of Business

Under the leadership of Ladd, Sanyo didn’t just expand geographically but also started acquiring many companies and bringing more diversity. In 1977, Sanyo Electric decided to buy Fisher Electronics and completed the acquisition in the same year. Fisher became a subsidiary of Sanyo Electric and also turned into a million-dollar company in the sphere of consumer electronics. After the merger of Fisher Corporation of Sanyo, Ladd was made the CEO of the company and he remained the same till 1987.

In 1976, the company bought the television business of Whirlpool Corporation to make its presence more vivid in North America. But before that, the company suffered a bit of damage in the video sector. This happened because the company’s decision to use Sony’s Betamax VCR format didn’t turn out to be much profitable. Sanyo also acquired Warwick Electronics in 1976 which was known for television manufacturing. In the 1980s, the company also started selling personal computers but it lacked compatibility and hence disappeared from the market very soon. A merger between Fisher and Sanyo’s US affiliate took place in 1986 which made the company much more efficient but at the same time, some of the key executives of the company including Ladd quit Sanyo.

Acquisitions of Sanyo

The company suffered tremendous losses when it was hit by the Chuetsu earthquake in 2004. After a year, financial results showed that the company suffered a loss of 205 billion yen due to the earthquake. This called for a restructuring plan for Sanyo but the profits made by the company were insignificant as compared to the massive loss. In 2006, the company announced that the losses continued which led to several lay-offs. Eventually, the mobile phone division of the company was acquired by Kyocera, a ceramics and electronics manufacturer. In November 2008, Panasonic and Sanyo started discussing the buy-out agreement and after a year, Panasonic successfully acquired a majority stake in Sanyo and made it one of its subsidiaries. In 2010, Panasonic acquired the remaining shares in the company and decided the brand name of Sanyo will be terminated. But today there are still some electronics where the brand name of Sanyo is valuable.

About the Founder

Toshio Lue, before becoming the founder of Sanyo Electric, worked at Matsushita Electric Work in a growth and development role. Prior to that, Lue served in the Japanese military but stepped down after Japan’s defeat in World War II. After he resigned from Matsushita, he founded Sanyo Electric and he named his firm Sanyo because it meant “three oceans” in Japan. And, Lue’s goal was to expand Sanyo across Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.

nec corporation

NEC Corporation – Story of a Japanese IT and Electronics Company Previously Known as Nippon Electric Limited.

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Established in 1899, NEC Corporation has come a long way in the industrial venture and witnessed different phases of it. When the company was established by Kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda, it was named Nippon Electric Limited Partnership. The company rebranded itself as NEC Corporation in 1983. It is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and operates on a global basis with more than 100,000 employees. The main products of the company are telecommunications equipment, supercomputers, software, electronics, servers, etc. In 2017, the company was featured on the Fortune 500 list.

About NEC Corporation

When the company was established, it mainly focused on the manufacturing and sales of telephones and switches. But, in order to survive, evolution is of utmost importance. Hence today, NEC corporation is not only thriving in the electronics industry but also known for offering cloud computing and IoT platforms. The company was the biggest PC vendor in Japan in the 1980s and also became the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world. In the 21st century, NEC Corporation has spun off its semiconductor division to Renesas Electronics and Elpida Memory. Last year, when the US banned Huawei’s 5G equipment in the country, NEC geared up to fill that void in both the US and UK.

NEC Corporation
Image source: www.industryglobalnews24.com

Establishment of Nippon Electric Limited

Kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda bought facilities from Miyoshi Electrical Manufacturing Company which helped them establish Nippon Electric. Western Electric, an American manufacturing company, and Nippon formed a joint-stock company in July 1899 which became Nippon Electric Company (NEC). This marked the first-ever joint venture of Japan with a foreign company. Initially, the company started out with the production and sales of telephones and switches and opened a plant at Mita Shikokumachi in 1901. The telephone subscribers started increasing in Japan in the early 1900s which increased the market potential for NEC. With the implementation of the telegraph treaty between Japan and China, NEC entered the Chinese market in 1908 followed by entering the Korean market as well.

Turmoils in the 20th Century

As the market started expanding for NEC, four of its factories were destroyed during the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. But, NEC got back on its feet very quickly and started the radio communications business in 1924. Western Electric was the prime supplier of broadcasting equipment for NEC. The company also established a radio research unit and by 1934 supplied China’s Xinjing station with a 100kW radio broadcasting system. NEC provided the Japanese Ministry of Communications with A-type switching systems and non-loaded line carrier equipment before World War II.

World War II marks the darkest days in history not only for NEC but for entire Japan. The company suffered heavy losses and some of its plants were completely damaged due to bomb attacks and foreign relations were also disrupted. By the end of 1944, the production of NEC reduced drastically. When the situation started getting back to normalcy, NEC re-opened the major plants in 1946. The company started investing significantly in R&D and won the Deming Prize for its excellent quality control. In 1954, computer research and development began in NEC and it designed Japan’s first crossbar switching system. NEC eventually expanded its market to North American and European territories as well.

Present Day NEC Corporation

The 21st century for NEC began with a joint venture with Samsung for manufacturing OLED displays. NEC also collaborated with the UK government and provided projectors for school students. In 2002, the electronics division of NEC became a separate entity rebranded as NEC Laboratories America Inc. NEC built the Earth Simulator which was the fastest supercomputer in the entire world for two years (2002-2004). Participating in the automobile industry marked a joint venture with Nissan in 2007 for producing lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. In 2012, a huge economic crisis struck NEC and it was forced to cut 10,000 jobs. Currently, the principal subsidiaries of NEC Corporation are NEC Corporation of America, Netcracker Technology, NEC Europe, KMD, Avaloq, and NEC Display Solutions (majority stake sold to Sharp Corporation).

Takashi Niino – CEO of NEC Corporation

Takashi Niino is the current CEO of NEC Corporation. He joined the company in 1977 and became the CEO and President in 2016. In this time spent in NEC, he was offered several roles like executive general manager and executive vice president. He completed his education at Kyoto University.

benq corporation

BenQ Corporation: One of the Leading IT and Electronics Company in Taiwan.

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BenQ Corporation is a Taiwan-based electronics and IT company offering solutions to its customers globally. The company has been in the field of computing and technology for the past 37 years. Basically, it started as a part of Acer Communication & Multimedia, but in 2001, the company spun off from the latter to form a separate brand. BenQ Corporation deals in developing and selling technology products, electronics, computing, and communications devices. It uses BenQ as its trading name. It is a subsidiary company of Qisda Corporation and has its headquarter based in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Formation of BenQ Corporation

The name BenQ has a meaningful abbreviation which is also the company slogan, i.e., Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life. The company tries to fulfill all its operations based on the said slogan. The company was founded in 1984 as a part of Acer Peripherals Inc. In 1991, the latter had a name change to Acer & Multimedia. This was the same time when Acer began to expand its operations in different fields, and as a result, the company established Acer Display Technologies Inc. in 1996. Acer also built its manufacturing units in Taiwan and China at the same time.
Acer established BenQGuru (Guru Systems), another subsidiary company, an e-business solutions provider, to enter the Asian market in 1998, employing about 350 people. But in 2001, BenQ was spun off from Acer to form a separate company, with its headquarters established in Taiwan.
Though the company was built to serve the Asian consumers, after the separation from Acer, it started to expand overseas and has now established offices in Europe and America as well.

BenQ Corporation
Image Source: www.dptechgroup.com

The Growth

BenQ started its journey as an independent company in 2001, and since then, it has been only growing. Started with 350 people, it now employs over 4000 people globally. It has also established multiple sales offices in the Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America, Europe, and China. As a brand, BenQ is operational in over 100 countries. Though the company started as a consultancy and management service provider, it has now grown to become an IT and electronics company, and today is one of the leading suppliers of TFT LCD monitors, digital projectors, digital cameras, and mobile computing devices, etc.
BenQ has also brought a series of smartphones under its name, M775C being the first smartphone that the company launched in the year 2003. The interest of BenQ in the smartphone business made it acquire the mobile devices division of Germany’s Siemens AG in 2005, forming a separate division for smartphone development named BenQ Mobile trading with the name, BenQ-Siemens. BenQ also separated its contract manufacturing and own-brand divisions in 2006.
BenQ mobile had to shut down due to the losses in 2007. But the parent company of BenQ, Qisda Corporation, still manufactured mobiles for Dell. The company launched a few of the first Windows smartphones for Dell in 2012. The next year, BenQ restarted the manufacturing of smartphones under its brand name. In 2015, the company partnered with UK mobile telecoms provider EE to launch another series of smartphones. The same year, it also acquired ZOWIE GEAR and established a new gaming division, developing mice, mousepads, sound cards, monitors, and other gaming accessories.

Products and Services

BenQ manufactures and distributes its products in three main divisions; computing (TV-sets, joy books, keyboards, storage, monitors, etc.), consumer electronics (camera, projectors, displays), and communications (mobile and smartphones). Currently, the company is focused on being ready for the future and is working on Human Technology, Design Technology, and Entertainment Technology. BenQ also develops products for the healthcare industry. It has also developed software and energy management solutions for its customers.

The CEO at BenQ

Conway Lee is the current President and the CEO of BenQ Corporation. He has got an MBA degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, USA. Lee has been working with BenQ before it was even formed. He joined the Acer group in 1989 and worked with the company for over ten years. When BenQ spun off from Acer, Lee joined the company as the General Manager of the Digital Media Business Group of the company. He was also the in-charge of BenQ Europe for some time.

Pegatron Corporation

Pegatron Corporation – A Taiwanese-Based Electronics Manufacturing Company Generating Revenue in Trillions.

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Pegatron is one of the leading Taiwanese companies in the sector of electronics manufacturing selling a wide range of products. The market of Pegatron is spread worldwide and currently its headquarters is based in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Pegatron Corporation was established fourteen years ago as a spin-off entity of AsusTek Computer Inc and today it has emerged as a very successful company. The company is under the leadership of T.H. Tung who is the Chairman of Pegatron.

Pegatron’s main products include notebooks, desktop computers, game consoles, netbook computers, motherboards, LCD TVs, etc. The company is also involved in the manufacturing of broadband communication products such as cable modems, set-top boxes, smartphones, etc. In recent years, the company has also started manufacturing smart home devices and wearable smart products as it is important for the companies to evolve with time and technology. Pegatron also invests significantly in research and development to offer high-end products to its customers.

History of Pegatron Corporation

Pegatron Corporation started off as an individual entity from 27th June 2007. This incident took place as AsusTek decided to go through a major restructuring of the company and was splitted into three individual corporations. The three corporations are namely, Asus, Pegatron Corporation, and Unihan Corporation. Among these three companies, Pegatron in particular focussed on oEM manufacturing of motherboards and components. But with time the goal and structure of Pegatron evolved as well. While the restructuring of operations started back in 2007, Asus finally spun off Pegatron on 1st June 2010. Since then Pegatron has strived to build its unique identity and a strong team.

Pegatron Corporation
Image source: behance.net

Apart from Taiwan, Pegatron has expanded its business to other nations as well including China, Czech Republic, Mexico, Japan, and the United States. The company started expanding very fast and thus more employees were hired. In 2010, the company was operating with approximately 97,000 employees which after ten years has turned to 172,000. After AsusTek split the parent company into three independent companies in 2007, the next year was followed by the acquisition of Unihan Corporation by Pegatron. Today, Unihan Corporation operates as the subsidiary of Pegatron and its acquisition helped the company to expand its product base.

Products and Services

Pegatron is the manufacturing of a wide variety of products ranging from personal computing to car electronics. In computer products, Pegatron is a manufacturer of personal computing, rugged computers, and servers. Rugged computers are mainly designed for its usage in extreme environmental conditions like protection from water, UV radiations, etc. Servers on the other hand are focused on building products for enterprise storage systems which includes high performance motherboards and RAID cards. As a part of products for consumer electronics, Pegatron manufactures tablets and game consoles. Pegatron also manufactures a wide range of communication products which includes smartphones, cable modems, Set-top box, and network switch. Pegatron offers the network equipment solutions especially for the large enterprises and datacenters such that it reduces the complexity and difficulty and improves efficiency of the network.

As mentioned earlier, Pegatron is actively participating in the area of car electronics and so far built Pegatron’s car entertainment system, vehicle telematics system, and advanced driver assistance system. Many companies are currently involved in manufacturing smart wearables that help in tracking health management functions. Pegatron is also investing to manufacture smart wearable technology carrying out multiple features including health monitoring. Some of the other smart electronics manufactured by Pegatron are IoT products, drones, robots, and virtual reality (VR). Apart from these electronics products, Pegatron also offers quality services for both hardware and software technologies across the world.

The Parent Company – AsusTek

AsusTek Computer Inc is one of the most admired computer brands across the globe. The company has created a strong brand presence both in its country and the international market. Founded in 1989, AsusTek is a Taiwanese company pioneering in the computer hardware and electronics industry. According to the statistics, Asus stands in the 5th position in terms of world’s largest PC vendors by unit sales in 2021. Asus is also in the list of Asia’s Top 10 IT companies. Asus is famous for its wide range of smartphones and laptops (especially gaming laptops).

T. H. Tung – Chairperson of Pegatron Corporation

T. H. Tung is a famous Taiwanese businessman and philanthropist. He is famous as the co-founder of Asus and currently playing his role as the Chairperson of Pegatron. Tung completed his education from National Taipei University of Technology and started his career with Acer Inc. He later quit his job to co-found Asus.

seiko epson corporation

Seiko Epson Corporation – Japanese Electronics Company used to Manufacture Computer Equipment.

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Seiko Epson Corporation is simply known as Epson. It is a Japanese electronics company used to manufacture computer printers, information, and imaging-related equipment all around the globe. Its headquarters are located in Suwa, Nagano, Japan.

The company has branches and subsidiaries worldwide. It also manufactures inkjets, dot-matrix and laser printers, scanners, desktop computers, businesses, multimedia, and home theatre projectors, major home-theater televisions, robots, and industrial automation equipment, cash and sales-docket printers, laptops, and integrated circuits. It falls under one of the three core companies owned by the Seiko Group which is traditionally known for designing Seiko timepieces since its foundation.

A Brief History of Seiko Epson Corporation

Ever since its inception, Seiko Epson has embedded its traditional strengths into a manufacturing company and expanded its growth further. Epson owes its rapid progress to refining the company’s super-microprocessing and precision processing technologies in the development of watches and then further expanding those technologies into other aspects. The company’s breakthrough was introduced with the launch of the EP-101(Electronic Printer). The EP-101 is a popular and astounding product that led to the establishment of new markets. This company was founded in 1975 with the goal of sending future “sons” of the EP-101 into the modernized world. Ever since the establishment of Epson, high-quality, high-value “sons” have been brought into this world in large numbers.

Seiko Epson Corporation
Image Source: bisinfotech.com

Products And Services

Seiko Epson Corporation manufactures and offers merchandise that lessens the effect on the environment. Epson has continually been fascinated as a manufacturer in what it may do to gain a sustainable company, running for decades to grow the energy performance of its efficient approaches and products, to enhance the performance of assets, and to get rid of dangerous substances.
Epson sells products that change the manner clients operate. This reduces the environmental effect and concurrently will increase the company’s operating performance and productivity. This merchandise assists to lessen the environmental effect of people.
The WF-C21000 is a high-pace multipurpose inkjet that may be print at speeds up to 100 ppm at integrated PrecisionCore lines (pages per minute). That’s a standard workplace laser printer output two times as much. The aggregate of print performance and energy efficiency is the following level in high-pace inkjet multipurpose printers (MFPs) powered with the aid of using Epson inkjet technologies. Inkjet printers from Epse use little or no electricity while printing due to the fact piezoelectric elements are ejected while only a small voltage is utilized by the ink droplets. On the opposite hand, laser printers require warmth – and plenty of power – to fuse toner to the paper. The PrecisionCore heat-free technology function of WorkForce Enterprise printers prevents warmth from getting used throughout the printing process. This reduces their running fees by using a good deal much less electricity than laser printers.
The digital textile inkjet printers from Epson are increasing layout possibilities in contrast to conventional tactics with decreased intake of energy, water, substances, and time. Digital information prints from a PC without delay from SureColor SC-F2100 on T-shirts and different clothing. The pictures may be reproduced not only with easy gradations and in complete color, however additionally with unnecessary monitors and plates. The SureColor SC-F2100 speeds up the procedure of printing.
Epson’s smart binocular headsets decorate operation performance and work nice by displaying digital manuals and imaginative and prescient instructions, allowing employees to finish tasks with both hands.

seiko epson corporation
Image Source: imagingsolution.in

Future Goals of Epson

Epson targets for decarbonization and closure of the useful resource loop, the improvement of environmental technologies, and the availability of environmental impact reduction services and products for consumers. In order to facilitate the transition to a decarbonized future as furnished for in the Paris Agreement, Epson combats climate change with reductions to greenhouse fuel line emissions in production and throughout its cost chain. By growing energy-saving merchandise and inkjet technology, Epson additionally contributes to society.

Yasunori Ogawa, The CEO

Mr. Yasunori Ogawa is the President and Representative Director of Seiko Epson Corp., as well as the CEO of EPSON X Investment Corp. He is a member of the Seiko Epson Corp. Board of Directors. He graduated from Tohoku University. He was appointed as the President in March 2020 before which he acted as Managing Executive Officer.

Kintaro Hattori, The Founder


Kintar Hattori became the founding father of Seiko, one of the world’s biggest watch manufacturers, and one of the first and most vital Japanese watchmakers in history. Kintar Hattori was born in 1860 in Uneme-Cho Kybashi, Tokyo, to a well-set-up merchant family. He turned into a pivotal figure withinside the improvement of Japan’s watchmaking industry. In 1892, he founded the primary watchmaking manufacturing unit in Japan, called “Seikosha.” Kintar Hattori additionally based the watch and jewelry store “K. Hattori” (Hattori Tokeiten in Japanese) in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan, that is now called Seiko Holdings Corporation and is known globally as Seiko.