Hitachi, Ltd.

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Hitachi, Ltd (株式会社日立製作所, Kabushiki-gaisha Hitachi Seisakusho^?) (TYO: 6501, NYSE: HIT) is a Japanese global company headquartered in Marunouchi Itchome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group (Hitachi Gurupu).

On the 2007 Forbes Global 2000 list, Hitachi is ranked number 371.

[edit] History

Hitachi was founded in 1910 as an electrical repair shop. Today, it is one of the leading manufacturers in new technology.

[edit] Hitachi Works

Hitachi Works is the oldest member of the Hitachi Group and consists of three factories: Kaigan, Yamatte, and Rinkai Works. Yamatte Works, the oldest of the three factories, was founded in 1910 by Namihei Odaira as an electrical equipment repair and manufacturing facility. This facility was named Hitachi, and is regarded as the ancestral home of Hitachi, Ltd.

Many management trainees intern at Hitachi Works before being permanently assigned to other Hitachi divisions. Senior management personnel are often participants in rotations at Hitachi Works for a few years as their career develops towards eventual head office stature. As a result, many of the senior managers of Hitachi Ltd have passed through Hitachi Works.

Spin-off entities from Hitachi Works include Hitachi Cable (1956) and Hitachi Canadian Industries (1988).

[edit] Main products and services

Hitachi divides its operations into seven industry segments. These segments are listed below with the main products and services offered by each. The figure in parentheses shown with each segment is the percentage of total revenue (for the fiscal year ended March 2007) derived from that segment.

Information and Telecommunication Systems (21%)

• System Integration
• Outsourcing Services
• Software
• Hard Disk Drives
• Disk Array Subsystems
• Servers
• Mainframes
• PCs
• Telecommunications Equipment
• ATMs

Electronic Devices (11%)

• LCDs
• Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment
• Test and Measurement Equipment
• Medical Electronics Equipment
• Semiconductors

Power & Industrial Systems (26%)

• Nuclear, Thermal and Hydroelectric Power Plants
• Industrial Machinery and Plants
• Automotive Products
• Construction Machinery
• Elevators
• Escalators
• Railway Vehicles

Digital Media & Consumer Products (13%)

• Optical Disk Drives
• Plasma and LCD Televisions
• LCD Projectors
• Mobile Phones
• Room Air Conditioners
• Refrigerators
• Washing Machines
• Vibrators
• Information Storage Media
• Batteries
• Air Conditioning Equipment

High Functional Materials & Components (15%)

• Wires and Cables
• Copper Products
• Semiconductor Materials
• Circuit Boards and Materials
• Organic and Inorganic Chemical Products
• Synthetic Resin Products
• Display-Related Materials
• Specialty Steels
• Magnetic Materials and Components
• High Grade Casting Components and Materials

Logistics, Services & Others (10%)

• General Trading
• Logistics
• Property Management

Financial Services (4%)

• Leasing
• Loan Guarantees
• Insurance Services

[edit] Investor relations

Hitachi stock is traded on the following exchanges:

New York (HIT - American Depositary Receipt), Tokyo (6501), Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo stock exchanges

[edit] Shareholders

(Data as of February 2006)

• NATS CUMCO 8.55%
• The Master Trust Bank of Japan 5.50%
• Japan Trustee Services Bank 5.06%
• State Street Bank and Trust Company 4.72%
• The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. London 3.84%
• Nippon Life Insurance Company 2.91%
• Hitachi Employees Shareholding Association 2.78%
• The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company 2.24%
• Trust & Custody Services Bank 1.93%
• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company 1.46%

[edit] Research and development

Research is conducted in six corporate laboratories and in overseas R&D organizations.

[edit] Corporate laboratories

Central Research Laboratory

• Information & Communications
• Solution LSIs
• Advanced Devices
• Life Science
• Storage
• Embedded Systems

Advanced Research Laboratory

• Human & Information
• Medical & Bio
• Environment & Energy
• Materials & Nanotechnology

Hitachi Research Laboratory

• Fuel cells through the use of nanotechnology
• Hybrid battery cars
• High strength nano-glass substrates
• Nano-grain encapsulation and self-assembly
• High-performance power supplies

Systems Development Laboratory

• Information Systems
• Security
• Ubiquitous Storage
• Service Solutions

Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory

• Mechatronics Application Systems

Production Engineering Research Laboratory

• Management Systems
• Production Engineering

[edit] Overseas facilities

Hitachi Europe Ltd.

• Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory - Spintronics, Quantum Communications, Organic Electronics
• Hitachi Dublin Laboratory - Numerical Analysis
• Hitachi Sophia Antipolis Laboratory - Mobile Communications, Security
• Automotive Research and Development Laboratory - Automotive Systems

Hitachi America, Ltd.

• Automotive Products Research Laboratory - Engine Control Systems, Car Navigation Systems, Production Process Technologies
• Wireless Systems Research Laboratory - Advanced Broadband Wireless Systems
• SAN Solutions Laboratory - Next-generation Storage Solutions, Life-cycle Data Management Architecture

Hitachi (China) Research & Development Corporation

• IP Network System Laboratory - Next-generation Mobile IP Network Systems & Applications
• Open System Software Laboratory - Open Source Software Development Tools, Engineering for Offshore Development
• Ubiquitous Platform Development Laboratory (Beijing branch) - Digital Appliances, Image & Storage Media
• Ubiquitous Platform Development Laboratory - Digital Television Systems
• Innovative Systems & Materials Laboratory - Automotive Components & Materials, Innovative Software, Future TV System Technology
• Digital Appliances Development Center - Digital Television Software Development, Market & Technology Survey
• Development Center for Home Appliances - Air-conditioning System Design

Hitachi Asia Ltd.

• Hitachi Storage Mechanics Laboratory - Hard Disk Drives

[edit] Trivia

• Hitachi no ki (ja:日立の樹, Hitachi no ki^? lit. "Hitachi tree") is a famous monkey pod tree at Moanalua Gardens, Oahu, Hawaii, shown on Hitachi's TV commercials in Japan.[1]
• In cartoon sitcom The Simpsons, Lisa had to do a presentation on one of her ancestors. She invented a family including a fake Native American tribe to impress everyone for the diversity project at school. She named the Native American tribe "Hitachi Tribe", getting the name from the microwave in the kitchen of her home. [2]

[edit] References

Categories: Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange | Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Cleanup from September 2007 | Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose | Articles with trivia sections from October 2007 | Articles lacking reliable references from September 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Companies based in Tokyo | Companies established in 1910 | Aircraft engine manufacturers of Japan | Electronics companies of Japan | Construction equipment manufacturers | Consumer electronics | Rail vehicles manufacturers | Electronics companies