Sumitomo Electric Industries

1932 - Started production of special steel wires

1939 - Company name changed to the current name, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.

1941 - Opened the Itami Works

1943 - Started production of vibration-proof rubber products and fuel tanks

1946 - Opened a brand office in Tokyo (now the Tokyo Head Office)

1948 - Started marketing sintered powder metal products

1949 - Entered into the construction business of overhead transmission lines

1951 to 2000

1957 - Delivered the first Japan-made television broadcasting antennas

1961 - Opened the Yokohama Works; Delivered the wiring harnesses for four-wheel vehicles for the first time in its history

1962 - Started production of the Irrax Tube electron beam irradiation tubes; The head office was moved from Osaka's Konohana Ward to its present location in Chuo Ward

1963 - Started production of disc brakes

1964 - Started production of electron beam irradiation wires

1968 - Entered into the traffic control systems business

1969 - Established the first overseas production subsidiary in Thailand　(SIAM Electric Industries Co., Ltd.); Started development of flexible printed circuits (FPCs)

1970 - Started production of compound semiconductors

1971 - Opened the Kanto Works

1974 - Started production of optical fiber cables

1975 - Contracted to construct a power transmission line in Iran

1976 - Received an order for a large telecommunications network construction project in Nigeria

1978 - Delivered and put into operation the world's first bidirectional fiber optics CATV system called “Hi-OVIS”

1981 - Delivered and installed fiber optic LAN systems for the first time in its history

1982 - Succeeded in producing the world's-largest-class (1.2 carats) synthetic diamonds

1996 - Developed a technology for producing long-length oxide high voltage superconducting wires

1998 - Developed and started marketing ecology wires and cables

1999 - Sumitomo Electric Fine Polymer, Inc. (fine polymer products) started operation

2001 to present

2001 - J-Power Systems Corporation (high-voltage power cables) started operational

2002 - Sumitomo Electric Networks, Inc. (network equipment), Sumitomo (SEI) Steel Wire Corp. (special steel wires) and Sumitomo Electric Wintec, Inc. (magnet wires) started operation

2003 - Sumiden Hitachi Cable Ltd. (wires and cables for buildings and industrial equipment) and Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Corp. (powder metal and diamond products) started operation

2004 - A.L.M.T. Corp. was made a wholly owned subsidiary

2006 - The HTS cable used in a power transmission grid in the U.S. started supplying electricity

2007 - Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. was made a wholly owned subsidiary; Nissin Electric Co., Ltd. was made a consolidated subsidiary

2008 - Opened Technical Training Center

2009 - Eudyna Devices Inc. was made a wholly owned subsidiary and changed its trade name to Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations, Inc.

2010 - Opened WinD Lab, a new laboratory building; SEI Optifrontier Co., Ltd. Started lightwave network product business

2011 - Commenced “Demonstration of Megawatt-Class Power Generation/Storage System” at Osaka Works, and at Yokohama Works in 2012

2012 - Obtained the world's first certification of Thunderbolt, an optical cable which began commercial production; Established joint research on “Commercialization and Construction Technology for Offshore Wind Power Generation Plants Regional Promotion Aqua-Wind Commercialization Study Group.”

2013 - Constructed manufacturing base for automotive aluminum electric wire in Thailand.

Sumitomo Electric produced optical fiber well ahead of other manufacturers, taking note of the product's capacity for data transmission, ideal for the advanced information age that was to come. In 1986, Sumitomo Electric developed Z-fiber, pure silica core fiber with the world's lowest transmission loss. This has supported the construction of optical communication networks, such as its wide use in many submarine cables.

Electronics

The Sumitomo Electric Group's electronics division supplies various products to manufacturers of smartphones, flat-screen televisions, and other advanced electronic goods. Products include base material, wiring, and components for compact and lightweight devices with high functionality, such as flexible printed circuits (FPCs), electronic wires, heat-shrinkable tubing, fine polymer products, and compound semiconductors. Capitalizing on compound semiconductor development and manufacturing-knowledge accumulated over many years, Sumitomo Electric succeeded in developing and mass-producing the world's first gallium nitride substances. Sumitomo Electric also continues to be the leading manufacturer of composite semiconductors (GaAs, GaN, InP), which are widely used in semiconductor lasers, LEDs, and mobile telecommunications devices.

Environment and Energy

This division provides electric wire and cable products that underpin stable energy supply. They include copper wire rods from which various types of electric wires and cables are made, power cables that are indispensable for the supply of high-voltage electricity, and trolley wires for railways. This business segment also supplies magnet wires used in household appliances, automotive electric components, and industrial motors- including hybrid products of rubber, plastic, and ceramics resulting from our development of wire coating technologies- to many different branches of industry.

Industrial Materials

Hard metal products, such as cutting tools, are essential for high-speed, high-performance, and high-precision mechanical processing. This division manufactures products used in many industries, including special metal wires for prestressed concrete used in civil engineering and construction projects; special steel wires such as steel cords used as tire-reinforcement materials in the automobile industry; and oil-tempered wires for valve springs. This division also makes sintered parts that are used as structural components in automobiles and home electric appliances.