Directorate of distance education

Siemens AG
Siemens, a German company, has fifteen business segments: power 
generation, power transmission and distribution, industrial and build-
ing systems, drives and standard products, automation, private commu-
nication systems, public communication networks, defense electronics,
automotive systems, semiconductors, medical engineering, passive com-
ponents and electron tubes, transportation systems, audio and video
systems, a 1990 merger with Nixdorf resulted in the formation of Siemens
Drives/ Standard Products
7.6
Automation
6.6
Communication
21
Medical Engineering
8.9
Others
17.6
Industrial/ Building Systems
9.9
Power Sectors
13.7
SNI
14.7
Siemens annual sales percentage by segment (1992)
Nixdorf Information’s system AG (SNI). SNI, second largest 
computer company in Europe after IBM, is a separate legal entity. Figure 
indicates the relative importance of the various business segments.

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Notes
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History
In 1847 Werner Siemens and J.G. Halske formed Siemens & Halske 
(S&H) to manufacture and install telegraphic systems. The company was 
successful and within ten years found itself constructing an extensive 
telegraph system in Russia as well as developing the first successful deep-
sea telegraphic cable.
Spurred by such accomplishments S&H diversified into other 
products. By the late 1800s S&H had become involved in telephones, 
electrical lighting, X-ray tubes, and power-generating equipment.
Growth continued into the 1900s until the outbreak of World War 
I. With civilian demand dampened, S&H sought military contracts. During 
the war the company supplied the German military with communication 
devices, explosives, rifle components, and aircraft engines.
Defeat of the German state carried a penalty for S&H. Its assets in 
England and Russia were seized by the respective governments. Despite 
such losses S&H continued operations, concentrating on electrical 
manufacturing. In 1923 S&H began producing radio receivers. Soon 
thereafter the firm once again moved into international markets, setting 
up an electrical subsidiary in Japan and developing hydro projects in 
Ireland and the Soviet Union. War again interrupted S&H’s Business. 
During World War II S&H devoted the majority of its manufacturing 
capacity to military orders. The company’s electrical skills were utilized 
in the development of an automatic-pilot system for airplanes and the 
German V-2 rocket. As a result, S&H factories were frequently targeted 
for Allied bombing raids. After the Soviet army gained control of Berlin 
in 1945, S&H’s corporate headquarters was destroyed.
Following World War II S&H relocated to Munich. By the early 
1950s S&H was again producing a variety of products for consumer 
electronics, railroad, medical, telephone, and power-generating equipment 
markets. S&H established an American subsidiary in 1954. By the end of 
the 1950s S&H had broadened into data processing and nuclear power.
In 1966 S&H underwent a major reorganization. All subsidiaries 
were brought under the direct control of the parent company. In turn,

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Notes
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the parent company reincorporated and emerged with a new name,
Siemens AG.
By the 1970s Siemens had once again become a respected interna-
tional competitor in electrical manufacturing. Siemens displaced West-
inghouse as the world’s number two electrical manufacturer. This pitted 
Siemens against number one General Electric in numerous markets in the 
1970s and 1980s. Despite a series of acquisitions and mergers in the 1980s 
Siemens remained a Euro-centered organization for the next decade. 
Sales in 1992 show that 75 percent of Siemens’ sales occur in Europe, with
46 percent of that amount in Germany alone (Figure).