OSRAM, illumination of Potsdamer Platz with a 3000-watt Osram-Nitra lamp, 1927

In 1906 the Deutsche Gasglühlicht AG (DGA) registered the trademark “Osram” for a new kind of wolfram lamp. After World War I, the major German manufacturers of incandescent lamps, DGA, AEG and Siemens & Halske, merged to form Osram GmbH KG. AEG and Siemens & Halske brought their own incandescent lamp factories into the new business. In the same period, in 1921/22, the well-known Osram logo was also developed which is still in use today, with only minor modifications since it was first designed. In 1976 AEG sold its Osram shares to Siemens under the same circumstances which led to the sale of its KWU and TU shares (see Kraftwerk Union and Transformatoren Union AG). Since 1978, when Siemens was also able to acquire General Electric’s shares, Osram has been wholly owned by Siemens. Today it is one of the world’s leading lamp manufacturers. In fiscal 2008 the company, headquartered in Munich, achieved sales of 4.6 billion euros, 88 of which came from outside Germany.

BSHG, advertisement for the cooker program, 1969

When the demand for consumer goods increased in the 1950s, Siemens responded by setting up a unit of its own for this purpose. In 1957 the radio and television sectors were thus spun off from Siemens & Halske AG and domestic appliances from Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG. Their manufacture was then continued under the umbrella of the newly founded Siemens-Electrogeräte AG (SE), which handled the manufacture, development and sales of all electrical consumer goods. Faced with strong competition from the Far East, Siemens later gave up the manufacture of radio and television sets, and sales with additionally bought appliances were ended in 1996. The entire domestic appliance sector was spun off in 1967 and merged with the relevant sector of Bosch to form Bosch-Siemens-Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH). Today, BSH is market leader in Western Europe and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of white goods – a successful global player with more than 39,000 employees and 42 manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia, the U.S. and Latin America.

Nokia Siemens Networks, headquarters in Espoo, Finland

Nokia Siemens Networks commenced operation on April 1, 2007. Both companies brought their business with network operators, including the relevant assets, into the 50:50 joint venture. With 60,000 employees in over 150 countries, NSN is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services. Innovation and sustainability are the main focus of the company, which provides a complete portfolio of mobile, fixed and converged network technology as well as professional services including consultancy and systems integration, deployment, maintenance and managed services. Its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland.