Siemens AG

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Siemens AG
Type	Public (Aktiengesellschaft) (ISIN: DE0007236101, FWB: SIE, NYSE: SI)
Founded	1847 in Berlin, Germany
Headquarters	Munich, Germany
Key people	Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman & CEO
Industry	Conglomerates
Products	Communication Systems Power Generation Industrial Automation and Control Lighting Medical Equipment Transportation and Automotive Water Technologies Financing Building Technologies Business Services Home Appliances Construction
Revenue	€75.445 billion (2005) [1]
Employees	472,000 (2006)
Slogan	Global Network of Innovation
Website	www.siemens.com

Siemens AG (ISIN: DE0007236101, FWB: SIE, NYSE: SI) is one of the world's largest technology companies. Siemens has six major business divisions: Communication and Information, Automation and Control, Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Transportation and Automotive, Medical, and Lighting. Siemens also has business interests in financing, real estate, home appliances, water technologies, computers, business services, and SOHO communication devices. Siemens 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 employs 472,000 people (2006) in 190 countries and reported global sales of €75.4 billion ($96.6 billion) in fiscal year 2005.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Post-war 2 Ongoing investigations of corruption, bribery 3 Chief Executives 4 Key business areas and subsidiary companies of Siemens AG 5 Competition 6 Products 7 Clients 8 Some of Siemens' recently acquired companies 9 Management 10 Further reading 11 References 12 See also 13 External links

[edit] History

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.

During the Second World War, like many big companies in Germany at the time, Siemens supported Hitler and participated in the "Aryanizing" of businesses. Siemens used slave labor from concentration camps to build electric switches for military uses. Siemens had many factories in and around famous extermination camps such as Auschwitz. In one example, almost 100,000 men and women from Auschwitz worked in a Siemens factory inside the extermination camp, supplying the electricity to the camp.^[1]

[edit] 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 AG 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 to sell the defence arm of Siemens Plessey to British Aerospace (BAe) and a UK government agency, the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA). BAe and DASA acquired the British and German divisions of the operation respectively.^{[citation needed]}

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. The retail banking technology group became Wincor Nixdorf.

Between 2002 and 2004 Siemens funneled 2.5 million euro via their consultant Wilhelm Schelsky to the employees associatin AUB^[2]. Schelsky also is the head of the AUB. In total 14.75 million euro had been paid to him. As this could not be related to documented services, the Nürnberg state attorny put him into custody in February 2007. The prosecutor's taskforce "Amigo" raided offices of Siemens and the AUB. The AUB officially was founded in 1986 and since then served as a counterforce against the dominating union IG Metall. In 2006 the AUB claimed to have won 10% of the seats in German works councils and - together with coalition partners - reduced the IG-Metal to below 50%^[3]. Interference in election of works councils is under investigation as well^[4].

In 2004, Siemens took over the mantle of official Formula One timekeeper, replacing TAG Heuer.

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^[5] million euros. Siemens also acquired a 2.5% stake in BenQ for 50 million euros. In September 2006 Munich-based BenQ Mobile filed for insolvency protection. More than 3000 employees who had been transferred from Siemens to BenQ lost their jobs. There are claims from 4350 creditors against BenQ mobile^[6][7].

Also in 2005, Siemens agreed with the Walt Disney Company to sponsor the Spaceship Earth attraction at the Epcot theme park in Florida.

In April 2007, the Fixed Networks, Mobile Networks and Carrier Services divisions of Siemens are planning to merge with Nokia’s Network Business Group in a 50/50 joint venture, creating a fixed and mobile network powerhouse called Nokia Siemens Networks. Nokia delayed the merger^[8] due to bribery investigations^[9] against Siemens.

Through an American sub-organization known as the Siemens Foundation, Siemens also devotes funds to rewarding students and AP teachers. One of its main programs is the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in math, science, and technology, which annually grants scholarships up to $100,000 to both individual and team entrants. According to the foundation website, Siemens awards a total of nearly $2 million in scholarship money every year.

[edit] Ongoing investigations of corruption, bribery

Recently, a series of scandals involving bribery and allegations of bribery have tarnished the image of the company. In the most recent allegations, Siemens executive Johannes Feldmayer has been detained for questioning regarding his suspected involvement in the illegal transfer of funds to the head of a workers' organization. Feldmayer, the second highest-paid executive on the Siemens board, oversees the company's Information Technology Solutions and Services division, as well as its real estate holdings and corporate information office.

These charges follow hard on the heels of other reported--but unrelated--misconduct in Feldmayer's division, during which Siemens estimates $500 million U.S. may have been paid to foreign officials as bribes, and the ongoing trial of two former Siemens managers accused of paying €6 million in bribes to executives at Enel, an Italian utility company^[10].

[edit] Chief Executives

[edit] Key business areas and subsidiary companies of Siemens AG

Siemens AG's six key business areas are:

• Communication and Information (Siemens COM and SIS)
• Automation and Control (Automation & Drives, Industrial Solutions & Services and Siemens Building Technologies)
• Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (PG and PTD)
• Transportation and Automotive (Siemens Transportation Systems + Siemens VDO Global Website)
• Medical (Siemens Medical Solutions)
• Lighting (Osram, Sylvania)

The company is also active in:

[edit] Competition

Main competitors of Siemens are:

[edit] Products

[edit] Clients

[edit] Some of Siemens' recently acquired companies

[edit] Management

• CEO: Klaus Kleinfeld, 1957 ([2])

[edit] Further reading

• Weiher, Sigfrid von /Herbert Goetzeler (1984). The Siemens Company, Its Historical Role in the Progress of Electrical Engineering 1847–1980, 2nd ed. Berlin and Munich.
• Feldenkirchen, Wilfried (2000). Siemens, From Workshop to Global Player, Munich.
• Feldenkirchen, Wilfried / Eberhard Posner (2005): The Siemens Entrepreneurs, Continuity and Change, 1847-2005, Ten Portraits, Munich.

[edit] References

• Greider, William (1997). One World, Ready or Not. Penguin Press. ISBN 0-7139-9211-5.

Footnotes

1. ^ Claude Lanzmann. Shoah [DVD]. New Yorker Films.
2. ^ German Wikipedia: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Betriebsangehöriger
3. ^ http://www.aub.de/
4. ^ Heise Online News: Siemens said to have bought the goodwill of members of works councils, 2007-03-13
5. ^ www.newratings.com: Siemens sells mobile phone unit to BenQ
6. ^ Tagesschau (German cannel 1 news), 2007-03-22
7. ^ EE Times: Gloomy outlook for BenQ Mobile creditors, 2007-03-21
8. ^ Associated Press quoted by Forbes: Nokia-Siemens Venture to Start in April, 2007-03-15
9. ^ International Herald Tribune: Bribery trial deepens Siemens woes, 2007-03-13
10. ^ International Herald Tribune: Siemens executive arrested on bribery charges, 2007-03-28

[edit] See also

[edit] External links