Western Electric
 |
|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
|---|---|
| Fate | Absorption |
| Successor |
AT&T Technologies Lucent Technologies Alcatel-Lucent Nokia |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Defunct | February 7, 1996 |
| Headquarters |
New York City, New York, United States |
| Products | Telephones, Central office switches, computers, electrical and electronics parts, and all other telecommunications related products supplied to Bell System companies |
| Parent | AT&T (1881–1996) |
Western Electric Company (WE, WECo) was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that served as the primary supplier to AT&T from 1881 to 1996. The company was responsible for many technological innovations and seminal developments in industrial management. It also served as the purchasing agent for the member companies of the Bell System.
In 1856, George Shawk purchased an electrical engineering business in Cleveland, Ohio. On December 31, 1869, he became partners with Enos M. Barton and, later the same year, sold his share to inventor Elisha Gray. In 1872 Barton, and Gray moved the business to Clinton Street, Chicago, Illinois, and incorporated it as the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. They manufactured a variety of electrical products including typewriters, alarms, and lighting and had a close relationship with telegraph company Western Union, to whom they supplied relays and other equipment.
In 1875, Gray sold his interests to Western Union, including the caveat that he had filed against Alexander Graham Bell's patent application for the telephone. The ensuing legal battle between Western Union and the Bell Telephone Company over patent rights ended in 1879 with Western Union withdrawing from the telephone market and Bell acquiring Western Electric in 1881.
Western Electric was the first company to join in a Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. In 1899, it invested in a 54% share of the Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. Western Electric's representative in Japan was Walter Tenney Carleton.
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