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For the Australian government agency, see Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council.
Not to be confused with Aztec.
Astec International plc
FormerlyAstec (BSR) plc (1985–1999)
IndustryElectric power conversion
Founded1971; 53 years ago (1971) in Hong Kong
Founders
  • Brian Christopher
  • Neal Stewart
Defunct2014; 10 years ago (2014)
FateDissolved
Number of employees
11,000 (2002)[1]
Parent
Websiteastec.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-01-02)

Astec International plc, better known as Astec Power or just Astec, was an international electronics company originally based in Hong Kong that manufactured power supply units and electric power conversion hardware. It was a major vendor of power supply units for computer systems, and for a time it was the largest global manufacturer of power supplies.[1][2]

History

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Power supply unit from an Osborne 1 portable computer manufactured by Astec

Astec was founded in British Hong Kong in 1971[1] by Brian Christopher and Neal Stewart, as a producer of DC-to-DC converter hardware.[3]: 41 [4] Before founding Astec, Christopher had previously worked for IBM, while Stewart was an academic physicist. The company was founded with HK$2.4 million in start-up capital.[5]

Astec's converters were initially purchased chiefly by manufacturers of electronic calculators, a market which was experiencing meteoric growth in the early 1970s. As the calculator market waned in the late 1970s, Astec started producing switched-mode power supply for the burgeoning personal computer market.[4] In 1977, Astec signed a contract with Apple Computer to become the primary supplier of PSUs for their Apple II family of home computer systems.[6][7] In 1981, IBM contracted Astec to manufacture the power supply unit of the original IBM PC. Their relationship with IBM lasted well over a decade and won them contracts with other computer vendors such as Hewlett-Packard.[6][8] Helped by these lucrative contracts, Astec grew to become the world's largest manufacturer of power supply units by 1985, taking the top spot from Lambda Electronics.[7][9] The company were helped especially by their relationship with Apple, which had netted Astec $50 million in sales alone by June 1983.[9]

Birmingham Sound Reproducers (BSR), a British manufacturer of home audio equipment, purchased a controlling 53.6-percent stake in the company in May 1980.[10] In 1981, BSR purchased the remaining 46.4 percent in Astec, acquiring the company outright.[11] BSR had been struggling from debt and diminished sales around the time of the purchase, with Astec being BSR's only profitable asset in the fiscal year 1980, generating £1.3 million while the rest of the company posted losses in excess of £17.6 million.[3]: 45 [12] The acquisition of Astec was a success for BSR and saved the parent company from bankruptcy.[12][13] By 1984, BSR began shedding its home audio assets as computer power supplies became the company's core business.[12] By the late 1980s, BSR was renamed to Astec (BSR) plc.[14]: D-1 

In 1989, Emerson Electric, an American manufacturer of electronic equipment, purchased a controlling stake (between 45 and 50 percent) in Astec (BSR) plc in exchange for several of Emerson's subsidiaries, including its largest power supply unit manufacturer ACDC Electronics.[15] Emerson shortly after consolidated five of their other subsidiaries into Astec, massively growing the latter company.[2] In 1999 Emerson acquired the remaining half of Astec outright. Sales in Astec began dwindling in the early 2000s amid the concurrent global downturn in the computer industry,[2] and in 2006 Emerson folded Astec into Artesyn, another large power conversion company which Emerson had acquired that year.[16] Astec remained a division of Artesyn until 2014, when it was folded into the newly formed Artesyn Embedded Technologies, a company formed in the aftermath of Emerson's divestiture of Artesyn in 2013.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wai-Chung Yeung, Henry (2002). Transnational Corporations and Business Networks: Hong Kong Firms in the ASEAN Region. Taylor & Francis. p. 229. ISBN 9781134826391 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c Staff writer (March 30, 2001). "Astec looks to supply more power". EDN. UBN Canon. Archived from the original on October 29, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Staff writer (April 22, 1983). "Wyllie's big ideas for BSR". Investors Chronicle. 66. Throgmorton Publications: 41–45 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Staff writer (May 15, 1999). "Astec: Leading merchant power supply manufacturer continues 25-year tradition of innovation, quality, and service". ECN. Cahners Business Information: 112 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Wood, Christopher (August 11, 1983). "Astec's reverse takeover turns the tables". Far Eastern Economic Review: 62 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ a b Mpitziopoulos, Aris (July 3, 2016). "Apple I and II: Switching PSU and the Lack of Cooling Fans". Tom's Hardware. Future Publishing. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Socolovsky, A.; M. F. Foley (July 1983). "Switching Supplies Grow in the Bellies of Computers". Electronic Business. 9 (7). Reed Business Information: 120 – via Gale.
  8. ^ Mueller, Scott (1999). Upgrading and Repairing PCs (11th ed.). Que. p. 1133. ISBN 9780789719034 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ a b Mehler, Mark (April 1, 1985). "Standards: A Switch in Time for Supplies". Electronic Business Buyer. 11. Cahners Publishing Company: 74 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Brown, Maggie (April 25, 1981). "BSR in £20m Hong Kong deal". The Guardian: 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Staff writer (June 25, 1981). "£5.3m setback at Trusthouse". Manchester Evening News: 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b c "BSR: A High-Tech Rebirth in Hong Kong for a British Stereo Maker". Bloomberg Businessweek (2863). Bloomberg LP: 99. October 8, 1984 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ Brown, Maggie (March 26, 1982). "BSR finds a pot of gold in Far East". The Guardian: 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Christoffersen, John (August 6, 1989). "ACDC purchase brings headquarters here". North County Times: D-1, D-8 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Christoffersen, John (August 23, 1989). "Electronics firm blossoms in area". North County Times: D-5 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Staff writer (February 2, 2006). "Emerson acquires power supplier Artesyn". EETimes. AspenCore. Archived from the original on October 29, 2024.
  17. ^ Shepard, Jeff (February 5, 2014). "Artesyn Embedded Technologies Rebranding Under new Ownership". EEPower. EETech Group. Archived from the original on October 29, 2024.
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