Electrolux was founded in 1910 as Elektromekaniska AB. The legal name spelling was changed to Electrolux in 1957. The company was organized as a holding company in 1928 and during the 1970s grew rapidly under the leadership of Hans Werthén.
In North America, the Electrolux name was long used by a vacuum cleaner manufacturer, founded by a Swedish businessman who emigrated to the U.S. In 1998, that company transferred its rights to the trademark in North America to the Electrolux Group and now operates under the name Aerus LLC. Following transfer of the trademark, Electrolux of Sweden added a new line of Electrolux home appliances for sale in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2002 Hans Stråberg was appointed president and CEO.
In 2003 Electrolux began a restructuring program throughout Europe to improve negative business trends.
Nowadays The Electrolux Group has two business areas: Consumer Durables and Professional Products. Consumer Durables includes kitchen products (such as refrigerators and freezers), laundry products (washing machines and dishwashing machines) and floor-care and small appliances (such as vacuum cleaners and coffeemakers) as well as spare parts. Professional Products includes food-service equipment (for restaurants, industrial kitchens, etc.) and laundry equipment (for health-care and apartment-building laundries, etc.).
The Zanussi Company began as the small workshop of Antonio Zanussi in 1916, in Northeastern Italy by making home stoves and wood-burning ovens.
In the early 1970s Zanussi sold in the UK under the “Zoppas” brand name which had been acquired as well as Zanussi making it the second largest Italian appliance maker. They also produced washing machines Hotpoint for Hotpoint at this time, which were very reliable and highly rated by users and engineers.
In the late 1970s and into the early 1980s the company had a range of washing machines which used an induction motor. Again this range proved extremely popular and very reliable.
During this period Zanussi Professional, the catering range of appliances for commercial use.
In the late 1980s Zanussi launched the split tank design known as the “Nexus Tub” design which endures to this day with little change. The tub and certain other parts are made from a plastic material known as “Carboran” which can be re-used several times. To this day Zanussi has provided any way to return this material for recycling purposes.
In the 1980’s Zanussi joined the Electrolux family and continued to come up with products that made your days that much easier. Like Jetsystem washing machines. It automatically matches the amount of water to the amount of energy needed, based on the size of your load.
Never one to rest on our last innovative product, they’re hard at work to bring you new ways to improve your lifestyle.
The history begins in 1946, with the establishment of the Iron and Metal Foundry on the premises of the former German factory Knauth. The Enamelware Plant, founded several months later, also belongs to our past. Manufactured here at that time were enamelled buckets and cans and the ‘Emilia’ washing machines enjoying immense popularity in the 50s.
In November 1962 both plants merged to form Wrocławskie Zakłady Metalurgiczne (Wrocław Metallurgical Plants), which specialized in manufacture of coal and gas stoves and washing machines. In 1969 the manufacture of a four-burner gas cooker with oven was begun, while in 1970 a further type of four-burner gas cooker was developed, equipped with a toaster and a rotisserie.
In 1977 the company undertook the manufacture of modern gas cookers for Philips. These were equipped with a system protecting against unexpected gas leakage. Manufacture of electric cookers commenced in 1988. In 1992 the company became a state-owned enterprise and received its present name – Wrozamet S.A.
A landmark year in the history of the company, 1993 saw a new generation of cookers launched under the name Mastercook, and within a short time the output of Wrozamet came to be labelled with this brand. The Mastercook range today includes gas and electric cookers, washing machines, ventilation hoods, ovens and heating hobs, as well as electric water heaters.
At the end of 1997 they began cooperation with the Spanish company Fagor Electrodomesticos. It was then that the first Mastercook washing machines and fridges appeared.
In March 2006, wishing to emphasize its affiliation with a strong business organization of great financial and manufacturing potential, but also to mark the strong market position of the Mastercook brand, Wrozamet decided on a change of name, becoming FagorMastercook S.A.
Fagor is the only Spanish international industrial group active in the domestic appliances market, with factories in Spain, Poland, Morocco, France, Italy and China.
In Poland, the company occupying second place on the Polish domestic appliances market. With 7 m domestic appliances manufactured per year, the Fagor Group is currently the leader in the Spanish and French markets.
Sony was founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. The two complemented each other with a unique blend of product innovation and marketing savvy.
In 1950, in post-war Japan, Ibuka and Morita created Sony’s first hardware device, a tape player/recorder called the G-TYPE recorder.
Ibuka was a practical visionary who could foretell what products and technologies could be applied to everyday life. He inspired in his engineers a spirit of innovation and pushed them to reach beyond their own expectations.
Through Ibuka’s persistence, the magnetic tape recorder evolved from the G-TYPE recorder into the Model P (for "Portable"), which became the company’s first profitable product.
In 1953, the company earned licensing rights to the transistor from Western Electric. Ibuka urged his engineers to improve production methods with the goal of creating a consumer product, the transistor radio. In 1955, the TR-55, Japan’s first transistor radio was launched.
Akio Morita was a true marketing pioneer who was instrumental in making Sony a household name all over the world. He was determined to establish the Sony brand.
The company name "Sony" was created by combining two words. One is "sonus" in Latin, which is the root of such words as "sound" and "sonic." The other is "sonny" meaning little son. The words were used to show that Sony is a very small group of young people who have the energy and passion toward unlimited creation.
Video innovation was also a priority for Sony engineers. On October 15, 1967, the new color television was named Trinitron. Trinitron television has set the standard for picture quality and design.
Kazuo Iwama was made president of Sony in 1976, and became thoroughly involved in developing the "charged coupled device" or CCD which paved the way for the camcorder and digital still camera. While he was president, Sony launched the Betamax video cassette recorder. His tenure ended with his passing away in 1982, but not before the launch of the compact disc player – another Sony innovation that changed the way people listened to music.
Sony Corporation’s current President Kunitake Ando is in charge of Sony’s global electronics operation. Previously, he was responsible for Sony’s introduction of the VAIO personal computer in 1996, and helped Sony become one of Japan’s leaders in information technology products.
Today Sony continues to release new products and improve upon existing technologies, and that is why they are the #1 consumer technology company out there. Examples include: VAIO notebooks, digital cameras, handheld device that lets you store and view photos everywhere and Hi-Scan flat screen TVs that deliver near HDTV picture quality. The most widely produced and sold television technology today.
Toshiba's early history has two different starting points -- 1875 saw the establishment of Tanaka Seizo-sho (Tanaka Engineering Works), Japan's first manufacturer of telegraphic equipment. Its founder, Hisashige Tanaka (1799 - 1881), was well known from his youth for inventions that included mechanical dolls and a perpetual clock. Under the name Shibaura Seisaku-sho (Shibaura Engineering Works), his company became one of Japan's largest manufacturers of heavy electrical apparatus. In 1890, Hakunetsu-sha & Co., Ltd. was established as Japan's first plant for electric incandescent lamps. Subsequent diversification saw the company evolve as a manufacturer of consumer products. In 1899, the company was renamed Tokyo Denki (Tokyo Electric Co.).
In 1939, these two companies, leaders in their respective fields, merged to form an integrated electric equipment manufacturer, Tokyo Shibaura Denki (Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd.). The company was soon well known as 'Toshiba,' which became its official name in 1978.
Now the company is the world's 9th largest integrated manufacturer of electric and electronic equipment and household appliances, such as: refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners etc.
Toshiba makes technologies and products - a safer, more comfortable, more productive. It brings together the spirit of innovation with the passion and conviction to shape the future and help protect the global environment.
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