Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: Companies based in France | Electronics companies | Software companies | Media companies
Thomson
Thomson SA , formerly known as Thomson Multimedia is a multinational electronics manufacturer and media services provider headquartered in Boulogne, France. The company has almost 60,000 employees (as of 2004), in 30 countries worldwide. In 2003, Thomson's consolidated revenues were € 8.5 billion.
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Organization
Thomson operates under four strategic brands servicing a variety of global markets:
- Thomson: Providing consumer electronics to Europe
- RCA: Providing consumer electronics to North America
- Grass Valley: Providing equipment and services to broadcast industries throughout the world
- Technicolor: Providing services to film industries throughout the world
Thomson operates under the GE Consumer Electronics brand in the United States.
Thomson also controls licensing of the MP3 patents in countries such as the United States of America and Japan that recognize software patents. Thomson Consumer Electronics has decided to cash in on the patents.
They also produce a TiVo-based personal video recorder.
Portfolio
- Consumer electronics
- Film services
- Broadcast equipment and services
- Video disk recorders and servers
- Digital news production
- Cameras
- Routers and Control surfaces
- Broadcast facilities
- Digital Media Asset Management
History
Thomson is named after the electrical engineer Elihu Thomson who was born in Manchester, England, on March 26, 1853. Thomson moved to Philadelphia at the age of 5, with his family.
Thomson formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in 1879 with Edwin Houston . The company merged with the Edison General Electric Company to become the General Electric Company in 1892. In 1893, the Compagnie Francaise Thomson-Houston (CFTH) was formed in Paris, a sister company to GE in the United States. It is from this company that the modern Thomson Group would evolve.
In 1966 CFTH merged with Hotchkiss-Brandt to form Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt (soon renamed Thomson-Brandt). In 1968 the electronics business of Thomson-Brandt merged with Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil (CSF) to form Thomson-CSF. Thomson Brandt maintained a significant shareholding in this company (approximately 40%).
In 1982 both Thomson-Brandt and Thomson-CSF were nationalized by François Mitterrand. Thomson-Brandt was renamed Thomson SA (Société Anonyme) and merged with Thomson-CSF.
In 1987, the state-run Thomson bought RCA and GE Consumer Electronics from GE.
In 1988 Thomson Consumer Electronics was formed, renamed Thomson Multimedia in 1995. The French government split the consumer electronics and defence businesses prior to privitisation in 1999, those companies being Thomson Multimedia and Thomson-CSF. Thomson-CSF went through a series of transactions, including with Marconi plc, before becoming Thales in 2000.
Like its American counterpart, the French Thomson has manufactured a variety of electrical, and later electronic, products for industrial, consumer, and military markets.
In 2000, Thomson Multimedia purchased Technicolor from Carlton Television (owned by Carlton Communications) in the UK.
In 2001, Thomson Multimedia purchased the Grass Valley Group from a private owner.
In 2002, Thomson Multimedia renamed itself Thomson
In 2004, Thomson purchased the Moving Picture Company from ITV. Later in the same year, Thomson began a move into the broadcast management, facilities and services market, with the purchase of Corinthian Television . In the same year Thomson increased its stake in bangalore based Celstream Technologies specializing in product engineering.
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Categories: Companies based in France | Electronics companies | Software companies | Media companies
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