COMPANY·HISTORIES
SIC 3679

Electronic Components, Nec.

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

35companies1907–1996founding years35still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedReliance Electric Company
1907
FoundedBulova Corporation
1911
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedBall Corporation
1922
FoundedHarris Corporation
1926
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedFluke Corporation
1953
FoundedTatung Co.
1957
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
FoundedKyocera Corporation
1959
FoundedSCI Systems, Inc.
1961
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedE-Systems, Inc.
1964
FoundedPentair, Inc.
1966
FoundedEsterline Technologies Corp.
1967
FoundedElectromagnetic Sciences Inc.
1968
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
FoundedKent Electronics Corporation
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
FoundedDH Technology, Inc.
1977
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
FoundedLinear Technology, Inc.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedLattice Semiconductor Corp.
1983
FoundedCorrpro Companies, Inc.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedIn Focus Systems, Inc.
1986
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Reliance Electric Company →
Active · founded 1907
Reliance Electric Company is a manufacturer of large mechanical couplers and electrical motors and drives used in heavy…
Bulova Corporation →
Active · founded 1911
Bulova Corporation is one of the largest and most venerable watch companies in the world.
Sparton Corporation →
Active · founded 1916
Sparton Corporation has a century long history of manufacturing technologically advanced equipment for the…
Ball Corporation →
Active · founded 1922
Although the Ball Corporation is best known for its distinctive home canning jars, that business was just one segment…
General Instrument Corporation →
Active · founded 1923
The General Instrument Corporation is the leading American provider of cable television equipment.
Harris Corporation →
Active · founded 1926
The origin of the Harris Corporation, a leading American electronics company, is actually to be found in the printing…
Methode Electronics, Inc. →
Active · founded 1946
Methode Electronics, Inc.
Fluke Corporation →
Active · founded 1953
Fluke Corporation is a leading designer, developer, manufacturer, and seller of commercial electronic test and…
Sheldahl Inc. →
Active · founded 1955
Sheldahl Inc.
Tatung Co. →
Active · founded 1957 · Taiwan
With ten domestic plants and nearly 20,000 employees, Tatung Co.
Framatome SA →
Active · founded 1958 · France
Framatome SA is a diversified, international manufacturing company and also the world leader in nuclear power…
Kyocera Corporation →
Active · founded 1959 · Japan
Kyocera Corporation, founded in 1959, was one of the first companies to produce fine ceramic components.
Harmon Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1961
Harmon Industries, Inc.
SCI Systems, Inc. →
Active · founded 1961
SCI Systems, Inc., is one of the world's largest electronics subcontractors.
Dolby Laboratories Inc. →
Active · founded 1964
Dolby Laboratories Inc.
E-Systems, Inc. →
Active · founded 1964
E-Systems, Inc.
Hadco Corporation →
Active · founded 1966
For over two decades, Hadco Corporation has been a leader in the development and manufacture of electronic packaging…
Pentair, Inc. →
Active · founded 1966
Pentair, Inc.
Schneider S.A. →
Active · founded 1966 · France
After a dizzying series of complicated restructurings, acquisitions, and divestments that began in 1980 when the…
Esterline Technologies Corp. →
Active · founded 1967
A diversified manufacturing company divided into three business groups--Automation, Aerospace and Defense, and…
McDonnell Douglas Corporation →
Active · founded 1967
The largest defense contractor in the United States, McDonnell Douglas Corporation is also the world's largest builder…
Electromagnetic Sciences Inc. →
Active · founded 1968
Electromagnetic Sciences Inc.
International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation →
Active · founded 1968
Once known primarily as a telecommunications company, the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT) has…
Kent Electronics Corporation →
Active · founded 1973
Kent Electronics Corporation is a distributor and contract manufacturer of specialized electronic components.
Gentex Corporation →
Active · founded 1974
Gentex Corporation is a recognized world leader in the manufacture of auto-dimming mirrors for the automobile industry.
DH Technology, Inc. →
Active · founded 1977
DH Technology, Inc.
Yageo Corporation →
Active · founded 1977 · Taiwan
With an estimated two percent share of the US$4 billion global market for electronic resistors, Taiwan's Yageo…
Linear Technology, Inc. →
Active · founded 1981
Linear Technology, Inc.
Read-Rite Corp. →
Active · founded 1981
Read-Rite Corp.
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. →
Active · founded 1983
Lattice Semiconductor Corp.
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. →
Active · founded 1983
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., is a leading developer, manufacturer, and seller of linear as well as mixed (linear…
Corrpro Companies, Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
Corrpro Companies, Inc.
ESS Technology, Inc. →
Active · founded 1984
ESS Technology, Inc.
In Focus Systems, Inc. →
Active · founded 1986
In Focus Systems, Inc.
Imation Corporation →
Active · founded 1996
In the closing months of 1995, Minnesota's 3M Corporation, one of the bluest of America's blue-chip companies,…
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