ABSTRACT
Although Siemens began doing business in the US in the nineteenth century, it scarcely maintained a presence in the market after failing in its efforts to open and operate a factory in Chicago in the 1890s. Up until the 1950s, the company largely limited its US activities to representative tasks and to the exchange of patents and know-how with American partners. The one exception was the field of medical engineering, which remained the company’s most important source of sales in the US until the 1970s. During the past two decades, Siemens has systematically penetrated the American market with the help of acquisitions of numerous US companies. Today all of Siemens core segments operate in the US – which is the company’s largest foreign market – and generate a volume of sales equal to that in Germany.
