Maxell
 | |
 Maxell Holdings office building in Tokyo | |
Native name | マクセル chu thức hội xã |
|---|---|
Romanizedname | Makuseru Kabushiki-gaisha |
| Formerly |
|
| Company type | PublicKK |
| TYO:6810 | |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | September 3, 1960 Osaka Prefecture,Japan |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Yoshiharu Katsuta (PresidentandCEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  ¥135.1 billion (2016) |
 ¥5.7 billion (2016) | |
| Owner | Hitachi(3.01%) |
Number of employees | 3,966 (2016) |
| Website | www2 |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3] | |
Maxell, Ltd.(マクセル chu thức hội xã,Makuseru Kabushiki-gaisha),commonly known asMaxell,is a Japanesecompanythat manufacturesconsumer electronics.
The company's name is a contraction of "Maximum capacity dry cell".Its main products arebatteries,wireless charging products, storage devices, (USB flash drive,with real capacity 4- 8- 16- 32- 64- 128- 256GB) LCD/laser projectors, and functional materials.[4][5]In the past, the company manufactured recording media, includingaudio cassettesand blankVHS tapes,floppy disks,[6][7]and recordable optical discs including CD-R/RW and DVD±RW.
On March 4, 2008, Maxell announced that they would outsource the manufacturing of their optical media.[8]
History
[edit]Maxell was formed in 1960, when a dry cell manufacturing plant was created at the company's headquarters inIbaraki, Osaka.In 1961, Maxell Electric Industrial Company, Limited was created out of the dry battery and magnetic tape divisions of Nitto Electric Industrial Company, Limited (nowNitto DenkoCorporation).
On March 18, 2014, the company was listed on the First Section of theTokyo Stock Exchange.[9]In 2013, Maxell, Ltd. acquired Hitachi Consumer Electronics, Co., Ltd.’s projector design, development and manufacturing assets and resources. On October 1, 2019, Maxell Corporation of America announced it would assume responsibility for all operations related to both Hitachi- brand and Maxell-brand projector products and accessories in the North American market.
Products
[edit]Batteries
[edit]Maxell, along withNagasaki University,NIAIST,andSubaru Corporation(the parent company ofSubaru,makers of theR1eelectric car), has developed a new chemistry forlithium-ionbatteries. Part of the change is dropping the expensivecobaltelement and using "nano infusedlithium"withmanganese,with twenty times more power storage, and the ability to mass-produce it inexpensively.[10]
Audio cassettes
[edit]
During the height of theCompact Audio Cassette's popularity, Maxell's audio cassettes were held in high regard, producing some of the finest examples of the standard available. The performance of the XLII-S (CrO2) and MX (pure metal particles) cassettes was highly regarded in the pre-digital domestic recording medium.
Until the beginning of 2020, Maxell still produced UR ferric-oxide-based cassettes for the international market. Maxell has since stopped distributing their UR cassettes outside of Japan.[citation needed]However in 2023 Maxell has started producing and selling UR cassettes outside of Japan on online marketplaces such as Amazon.[citation needed]
Optical storages
[edit]
Since November 2006 the TaiwaneseRitek corporationbecame exclusive producer of Maxell CD-Rs and DVDs.[11]
LCD and laser projectors
[edit]Maxell now assumes responsibility for all Hitachi-brand and Maxell-brand LCD projectors and laser projectors, as well as the Lecture Capture Collaboration Station.[12]Maxell projectors are available in a range of lumens, resolutions, sizes, and colors for classrooms, conference rooms, houses of worship, and venues.
Advertising
[edit]
In the 1980s, Maxell became an icon ofpop culturewhen it produced advertisements popularly known as "Blown Away Guy" for its line ofaudio cassettes.The campaign began as a two-page advertising spread inRolling Stonemagazine in 1980. The photo shows a man sitting low in a (Le CorbusierGrand ConfortLC2[13]) high armed chair (on the right side of the spread) in front of, and facing, aJBL L100speaker (the left side of the spread). His hair andnecktie,along with the lampshade to the man's right and the martini glass on the low table to the man's left, are being blown back by the tremendous sound from speakers in front of him—supposedly due to the audio accuracy of Maxell's product. The man is shown desperately clinging to the armrests but defiantly looking ahead at the source of the music throughsunglasses.
The ad campaign was conceived by Art Director Lars Anderson. Steve Steigman was the photographer. Steigman wanted a male model with long hair in order to show the effect of the wind, but when such a model could not be found on the day of the shoot, they used the makeup artist who was hired for the shoot, Jac Colello.[14]
The same concept was used for television spots in 1981 which ran throughout the 1980s. These commercials showed nearly the same image as the print ad, but with the chair, a drink and nearby lamp all being pushed away from the stereo by the strong force of the sound waves, though the man calmly catches his drink before it slides off the end table.[15]Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"was used for music. A separate ad was filmed for theUnited Kingdom,with musicianPeter Murphyof the groupBauhausas the man in the chair, and "Night on Bald Mountain"byModest Mussorgskyas the music.
The "blown away guy" image became quite popular, and has been copied and parodied numerous times, including in the 1992John RitterfilmStay Tuned(where a character's head is blown off by a "Max-Hell" tape), in the 2005 episode "Model Misbehavior"[16]of animated sitcomFamily Guy,and in the 2010 movieJackass 3D,whereRyan Dunnsits in a chair while the blast from a jet engine sends the set blowing away. The comic stripBloom Countyalso parodied the ad in showing one of its characters,Milo Bloom,at home watchingMTV.[17]
In 2005, Maxell revived the "Blown Away Guy" ad campaign. As Maxell now made blank DVDs and CDs, headphones, speakers, and blank audio and video tape, the ads were updated with photos of iPods and accessories underneath the image. "Get blown away" was the headline, while the copy urged consumers to use Maxell accessories to "make your small iPod sound like a huge audio system".
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Corporate Data"(in Japanese). Archived fromthe originalon October 15, 2017.RetrievedMarch 23,2014.
- ^"Corporate Profile".Google Finance.RetrievedMarch 23,2014.
- ^"Hitachi Maxell To List On Tokyo Bourse In $750M IPO".The Wall Street Journal.February 14, 2014.RetrievedMarch 23,2014.
- ^"Company Profile".RetrievedMarch 23,2014.
- ^"Maxell USA website".
- ^(alphabetically)Peter H. Lewis (December 15, 1987)."Holiday Hardware".The New York Times.
Fuji, Maxell, Polaroid, Sony, 3M and Verbatim
- ^Peter H. Lewis (July 10, 1988)."Difficulties in Choosing Diskettes".The New York Times.
3M, Sony, Maxell, Polaroid, Fuji and BASF
- ^"Maxell to no longer manufacture discs blow customers away".March 4, 2008.RetrievedSeptember 13,2020.
- ^"Hitachi Maxell Announces Listing on First Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange"(PDF).March 18, 2014. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on March 23, 2014.RetrievedMarch 23,2014.
- ^Hitachi Maxell Claims Huge Lithium-Ion Battery Breakthrough. Too Good to be True?: TreeHugger
- ^"14 November 2006, Ritek to Become Exclusive ODM Maker for Hitachi Maxell".November 14, 2006.RetrievedSeptember 13,2020.
- ^"14 February 2019,ISE 2019: Warum nun Maxell steht, wo zuvor Hitachi stand".February 14, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 13,2020.
- ^Colman, David (30 May 2004)."POSSESSED; Designer, Recumbent".New York Times.Retrieved5 April2014.
- ^Elliot, Stuart (July 5, 2006)."The 'Blow-Away Guy' Rides Again".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 4,2010.
- ^1980s Maxell Tape CommercialonYouTube
- ^Family Guy nod to the 80s Maxell advertonYouTube
- ^"Happy 30th Birthday MTV at GirlHacker's Random Log".
External links
[edit]
- Official website
- Company profile from Hoover's Online
- 1980s Maxell Tape CommercialonYouTube
- UK versiononYouTube
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