Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (住友電気工業株式会社) is a manufacturer of electric wire and optical fiber cables. Its headquarters are in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The company's shares are listed in the first section of the Tokyo, Nagoya Stock Exchanges, and the Fukuoka Stock Exchange. In the period ending March 2021, the company reported consolidated sales of US$26,5 billion (2,918,580 million Japanese yen).
The company was founded in 1897 to produce copper wire for electrical uses. Sumitomo Electric operates in five business fields: Automotive, Information & Communications, Electronics, Environment & Energy, and Industrial materials and is developing in two others: Life Sciences and Materials & Resources. It has more than 400 subsidiaries and over 280,000 employees in more than 30 countries.
Sumitomo Electric has traditionally had an intensive focus on R&D to develop new products. Its technologies have been used in major projects including traffic control in Thailand, improvement of telecom networks in Nigeria, membrane technology for waste water treatment in Korea, and bridge construction in Germany. Sumitomo produces chips for 5G base stations.[2]
Sumitomo Electric's electrical wiring harness systems, which are used to send information and energy to automobiles, hold the largest market share in the world. Sumitomo Electric also continues to be the leading manufacturer of composite semiconductors (GaAs, GaN, InP), which are widely used in semiconductor lasers, LEDs, and mobile telecommunications devices. The company is one of the top three manufacturers in the world of optical fiber.
Sumitomo Electric Industries is a part of the Sumitomo Group.
History
1897 to 1950
- 1897 - Sumitomo Copper Rolling Works was founded
- 1900 - Started production of coated wires
- 1908 - Started production of power cables
- 1909 - Started trial production of telecommunication cables
- 1911 - Established Sumitomo Electric Wire & Cable Works; Laid first Japan-made high-voltage underground cables
- 1916 - Opened a new factory (now the Osaka Works); Started production of enamel wires
- 1920 - Sumitomo Electric Wire & Cable Works incorporated as a limited company
- 1931 - Started production of cemented carbide tools
- 1932 - Started production of special steel wires
- 1939 - Company name changed to the current name, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
- 1941 - Opened the Itami Works
- 1943 - Started production of vibration-proof rubber products and fuel tanks
Business units
Sumitomo Electric and its global subsidiaries and affiliates undertake product development, manufacturing and marketing, as well as service provision in the five business divisions: “Automotive,” “Infocommunications,” “Electronics,” “Environment and Energy,” and “Industrial Materials & Others.”
Automotive
The automotive segment accounts for 50% of Sumitomo Electric's annual sales. With the aim of realizing an automotive society characterized by safety, comfort, and environmental responsibility, Sumitomo Electric supplies the global market with a broad range of products, including wiring harnesses for in-vehicle data and energy transmission, and anti-vibration rubber.
The automotive wiring harness business commenced in 1949 with supplies to the Occupation Forces for their jeeps. In 1961, for the first time, the company supplied wiring harnesses for four-wheel-drive vehicles. At present, Sumitomo Electric promotes the automotive wiring harness business in a tripartite system, in which Sumitomo Electric takes charge of sales and business planning, Sumitomo Wiring Systems handles design and manufacturing, and AutoNetworks Technologies conduct research and development. As a result, Sumitomo Electric's electrical wiring harness systems, which are used to send information and energy to automobiles, have garnered the second largest market share in the world.
Info-communications
This segment provides key products and devices that support optical communications, such as optical fibers, cables, connectors, fusion splicers, GE-PON (Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network) devices, various network access equipment, as well as electronic devices and antenna products for wireless communications.
Projects
Americas
Middle East
- Iran – Major power transmission line installation project [5]
See also
- Sumiflon
External links
References
- FY2022 Factbook Sumitomo Electric Industries, 12 May 2023, retrieved 1 June 2023^
- Ryotaro Sato. Sumitomo Electric to produce 5G chips in US amid shortage Nikkei Asia, 4 July 2021^
- Annual Report 1998