Western Electric

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Western Electric
Founded: 1869-07-17
Merged into: Lucent Technologies (1996-07-02)
Headquarters: New York City, New York, United States

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Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of AT&T for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, and purchasing agent for all telephone equipment for the Bell System from 1881 until 1984, when the Bell System was dismantled. Because the Bell System had a near-total monopoly over telephone service in the United States for much of the 20th century, Western Electric's equipment was widespread across the country. The company was responsible for many technological innovations, as well as developments in industrial management.

Company

Western Electric was the first company to join in a Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. In 1899, it invested in a 54% share of the Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. Western Electric's representative in Japan was Walter Tenney Carleton. The company, later known as NEC, would eventually become a major international manufacturer of electronics equipment including semiconductors and personal computers, including the PC-8800 series and the PC-9800 series, as well as the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 console and its successors, co-created with Hudson Soft by NEC Home Electronics (NEC-HE), the home electronics division of NEC.