New markets and areas of business (1966 - 1989)
Starting in the 1970s, Siemens pushes forward the expansion of its position in the electrical markets of the United States, Western Europe and Asia. The combination of superb technological achievements, organic growth and an active investment policy brings Siemens strong market positions in strategically significant areas like power, data and communications technology.
Siemens share from the year 1966
One of the main milestones in the company’s development came in October 1966, when, in order to pool the various activities and competences of the company, Ernst von Siemens merged Siemens & Halske AG, Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG and Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG to form Siemens AG. Prompted by the growing convergence of the power engineering and communications engineering sectors, the move helped to build a stronger position for Siemens in the global marketplace.
At the same time, the company’s operating structures and organizational forms were adapted in accordance with the increased range of business. In 1969 the first basic Corporate Principles of Siemens AG came into force. They followed the contemporary trend of division into sectors and decentralization: in order to react faster and more flexibly to the wishes and requirements of customers or the market, Siemens’ main business units were consolidated into six largely independent operating Groups: Components, Data Systems, Power Engineering, Electrical Installations, Medical Engineering, and Telecommunications, with five central departments to ensure consistency of company and business policy.
At the time the company had over 270,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of more than DM 10 billion.
A number of company units were managed as independent legal units, including Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, formed in 1967, and Kraftwerk Union AG (KWU), set up as a subsidiary of Siemens and AEG in 1969 to pool the two companies’ power plant construction activities. In 1977 Siemens took over KWU completely. Siemens also engaged in numerous business partnerships with well-known foreign companies, including the Allis-Chalmers Corporation in 1978.
In 1969, Siemens for the first time made shares available to company employees at a preferential price. These were common shares, subject to a legally prescribed lockup period of five years.
Siemens has been sponsoring cultural activities since the end of the 1950s through a number of foundations and through the Siemens Arts Program, launched in 1987. The latter focuses mainly on promoting projects that advance contemporary art forms and bringing them to a wider audience within the company.