American Power Conversion
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| American Power Conversion Corp. | |
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| Type | Subsidiary, Schneider Electric |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | West Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Products | Uninterruptible power supplies |
| Net income | $2.0 Billion (2005) |
| Employees | 7,580 (2005) |
| Parent | Schneider Electric |
| Website | www.apcc.com |
American Power Conversion, based in West Kingston, Rhode Island, is a maker of AC and DC-based back-up power products and services. APC is best known for their manufacture of uninterruptible power supplies, mostly used as a backup power system for servers. Their current product line includes electrical power products, server racks, server cooling products, and other datacenter products.
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[edit] History
APC was founded in 1981 by three MIT Lincoln Labs' electronic power engineers. Originally, the engineers focused on solar power research and development. When government funding for their research dried up, APC shifted its focus to power protection by introducing its first UPS in 1984. In July 1988 APC became a publicly held company.
[edit] Acquisition by Schneider
Schneider Electric announced its acquisition of APC on October 30, 2006[1] and completed it on February 14, 2007.[2] The deal was approved by APC share holders on January 16, 2007.[3] The European Union authorized the merger, provided that Schneider divest itself of MGE UPS SYSTEMS's global UPS business below 10kVA.[4]
[edit] Recall
In 2003 APC issued a recall for 900,000 back-up power supply devices. There was a risk the power supply devices could overheat and cause a fire hazard. UPS models Back-UPS CS350 and the Back-UPS CS 500 were affected by the recall.
[edit] Product Lines
Today, the Company focuses its efforts on four application areas:
- Home/Home Office
- Business Networks
- Access Provider Networks
- Data Centers and Facilities
