| Type | Publicly traded limited company |
|---|---|
| Traded as | SIX: UHR, UHRN |
| Industry | Luxury goods, accessories |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder(s) | Nicolas Hayek |
| Headquarters | Biel, Switzerland |
| Key people | Nayla Hayek (Chairman), Nick Hayek, Jr. (CEO) |
| Products | Watches, jewellery, electronic systems for timekeeping |
| Revenue | CHF 6.108 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | CHF 1.436 billion (2010)[1] |
| Profit | CHF 1.074 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | CHF 8.614 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | CHF 7.101 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 24,240 (average, 2010)[1] |
| Website | www.swatchgroup.com |
The Swatch Group Ltd. is a Swiss company and watch manufacturer.[2] It was formed in 1983 through the merging of the two Swiss watch manufacturers ASUAG and SSIH, and took its present name in 1998 (formerly SMH Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd). The company is led by G. Nicolas (Nick) Hayek, Jr., son of the late co-founder and chairman Nicolas Hayek.
In 2007, gross sales were 5.94 billion CHF. The Swatch Group has around 23,600 employees.
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The Swatch Group formed from two financially troubled predecessor companies:
In the late 1970s SSIH became insolvent due in part to a recession and in part to heavy competition from inexpensive Asian made quartz crystal watches. These difficulties occurred even though it had become Switzerland's largest and the world's third largest producer of watches. Its creditor banks assumed control in 1981.
ASUAG failed similarly in 1982.
Both groups were reorganized and merged into SSIH/ASUAG Holding Company in 1983. Taken private, in 1985, by then CEO Nicolas Hayek, with the understanding of the Swiss Banks and the financial assistance of a group of Swiss private investors, it was renamed SMH in 1986, and ultimately Swatch Group Ltd in 1998.
The launch of the new Swatch brand "Swatch" watch in 1983, by the then ETA SA CEO Ernst Thomke and his young team of engineers, was marked by bold new styling and design. The quartz watch was redesigned for manufacturing efficiency and fewer parts. This combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored Switzerland as a major player in the world wristwatch market.
Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Léon Hatot, Omega, Longines, Rado, Union Glashütte, Tissot, Calvin Klein Watches + Jewelry, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch, Flik Flak, Endura and Tourbillon.[3]
The Swatch Group Electronic System provides complete solutions by integrating the individual expertise of the following companies:
The Swatch Group started offering their first class for aspiring watchmakers in September 2005. This school is based out of Miami, Florida. Another school is located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Other watchmaker schools outside the US are situated in Glashütte (Germany), Pforzheim (Germany), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Shanghai (China).
In 1998, Swatch invented "Swatch Internet Time", intended as a global time system, which divides the day into 1000 "beats" in a single worldwide time zone.
In October 2004, Swatch introduced its first smart watch, the Paparazzi, based on Microsoft Corporation's SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) technology.
Oscilloquartz SA, a company of the Swatch Group Electronic Systems, also produces NTP time server products.
In 1994, Swatch entered into a joint venture with Germany's Daimler AG to produce the Smart, but they later withdrew from this project.
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