Category Commerce

          Steve Jobs is more like a household name for anyone who knows about computers. But have you heard of Steve Wozniak., Jobs’s friend? The Steves began a start-up in a garage in California that grew to be one of the most successful companies in the world- Apple Inc.

         Both Jobs and Wozniak were college dropouts who wanted to develop a user-friendly personal computer. Wozniak’s work resulted in the development of Apple 1, their first model. This happened in 1976. A year later, they introduced Apple 2, their next PC. Though some of their models were not well received, they never stopped working hard.

          It was in 1984 that they introduced Macintosh, a PC with a built-in screen and mouse. This Product changed the way computers began to be used. Later, they went on to produce laptops, iPods and iPhones.

          Though Panasonic was known as a brand much before, it began to be known as a company only in 2008. Panasonic is the new name of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

          Konosuke Matsushita started Panasonic in 1918. Twenty-three -year old Matsushita had two workers- his young wife and her 15-year old brother. Their business started with fan insulator plates. The product was reliable and cheaper than the others available in the market. By the end of the year, he had twenty employees.

          The journey was not so easy for Matsushita. His business was affected by the World War, but he made a fortune out of the post-War boom. From 1945 through 1959, Panasonic began producing black-and-white TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, radios, rice cookers and home air conditioners. By 1950, the company expanded globally.

          The company changed its name to Panasonic in 2008 and teamed up with Tesla in 2014. Panasonic is now a global technology leader.

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          Though Canon possessed advanced technology, the company had a weak marketing section. Their success in engineering was countered by weak marketing strategies. This affected their products.

          In 1972, Canon developed the “liquid dry” copying system, the first of its kind in the market. Instead of selling the new product on their own, Canon licensed the technology to other manufacturers because the company doubted its competence in the market. This wasted a huge opportunity for profit. Things changed when Ryuzaburo Kaku stepped in.

          Kaku joined Canon as the managing director who changed the company’s management and marketing strategies, including TV commercials and faster development of newer technologies. By the 1970s and 1980s Canon launched a range of new products like EOS (electronic optical system) and autofocus SLR that brought them back into profitable business.

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          Canon, the company that produces some of the world’s best cameras was started by a gynecologist. Back in 1933, Takeshi Mitarai, a gynecologist worked to develop cameras for medical use.

          Mitarai began the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory for this, but the applications of their first major product extended well beyond the medical field. In 1934, they made Kwanon, Japan’s first 35 millimetre camera.

          Years later, they came out with Japan’s first indirect X-ray camera. Though their products were successful in the market, the Second World War hindered their growth. But another war provided an international break-through for Canon. It was during the Korean War that people recognized the quality of the Japanese lenses.

          Soon, the company began making huge profits. Its name changed to Canon Camera Company Inc in 1947. Canon continued to grow and in 1959, it became the first company in the world to manufacture an 8-millimetre camera with a built-in zoom lens. The company branched out to manufacture other products including the all-electronic hand-held calculator, electronic typewriter and plain-paper copier.

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          It was 1886. Robert Bosch was neither rich, nor famous when he began his work to produce magnetos -a machine that provides current for ignition- in a workshop in his backyard.

          A year later, he came up with his first low voltage magneto for gas engines. In a few years, Bosch became the supplier of reliable ignition machinery within the industry. They rose to a global stature in 1897 and became a corporation in 1917.

         The company also started making windshield wipers and car radios. During the Second World War, they had to produce accessories for German Luftwaffe aircraft. During the war years, no new German tank was ever made without the starter elements from the Bosch factory.

          Apart from automobile accessories, as well as power tools, additional products like household appliances, helped Bosch achieve long-term stability.

          Bosch is credited with the development of a range of important inventions like the oxygen sensor, the electric motor control, the traction control system, the xenon light for cars, the electronic stability control and the direct fuel injection.

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