AVX Corporation (NASDAQ: AVX), a 71 percent owned[1] subsidiary of Kyocera Electronics Corporation, is a manufacturer of electronic components headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with plans to move to Greenville, South Carolina. It is the largest industrial employer in Horry County, South Carolina, with almost 1000 workers in Myrtle Beach and Conway.[2] AVX has 9,900 employees and operates in the United States, Europe and Asia. 2009 sales were $1.4 billion.[3]
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AVX has three business units. Passive Components includes electrical components for automotive braking, cell phones, copiers, hearing aids, and locomotives. KED Resale sells Kyocera products including ceramic and tantalum capacitors. Connectors are used in the automotive and medical industries.
Major customers of AVX include Motorola, Nokia and Robert Bosch GmbH.
Asia accounts for 45 percent of AVX sales.[1]
AVX began in 1972 making ceramic capacitors as a subsidiary of Aerovox Corporation, a company founded in 1922 as Radiola Wireless Corporation, which made radios. In June 1973, AVX became the parent company when assets of Aerovox were sold. That same year, Marshall D. Butler, who played a major role in the company's growth, became chairman and CEO.
Butler cofounded Alloys Unlimited Inc. in 1957, which was sold to London-based Plessey Co. in 1970; Butler stayed for several years as president of the Plessey subsidiary. With his experience in the semiconductor field, Butler decided AVX should emphasize multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCs), used in the rapidly expanding integrated circuit field. Butler sold two other divisions and started a five-year plan. The company's $20 million investment and careful analysis of the market resulted in 1979 sales of $95 million and dominance of the market; the goal, based on 30 percent annual growth, had been $83 million.
AVX added operations in Europe, but moving into Japan proved more difficult. The company's license would not let it sell in Japan, but Kyocera Corporation could sell its products in the United States. Kyocera CEO Kazuo Inamori agreed with Butler that the situation needed to be changed, and Kyocera ended the unfair provision. In 1979 AVX started a Japanese subsidiary.
During the 1980s, growth continued, with 1984 sales reaching $234 million. But that year, it became clear that computer manufacturers had bought more capacitors than needed, and a slowdown began in the industry. AVX continued to grow through new product research and buying other companies. By the end of the decade sales reached $450 million.
In the late 1980s, the European operations of AVX represented one-fourth of sales. AVX wanted to manufacture parts for Kyocera, which had only 2 percent of its sales in Europe and hoped to increase that before the European Community made that more difficult. Inamori wanted to buy AVX rather than partner with the company. After a $267 million stock purchase, AVX has operated as part of Kyocera Corp. since January 18, 1990.
Butler retired as CEO in 1993 but remained on the board of directors. Benedict P. Rosen, an employee since the company's start, became the new CEO. By 1995, sales reached almost $1 billion after significant growth for personal computers and cell phones. At the same time, the automotive, home appliance and medical industries needed electronic components, and advanced electronic systems needed capacitors as well. AVX also sold Kyocera products worldwide and helped the company start operations in Mexico and Indonesia. Kyocera helped AVX start manufacturing connectors.
In 1995, Kyocera sold one-fourth of AVX for $557 million, which more than returned the company's investment in AVX, even though Kyocera still owned three-fourths of the company. AVX used the money to enter the connector business and increase its manufacturing of ceramic and tantalum capacitors.
The boom in the capacitor industry once again proved temporary, after customers bought more products than they needed. But in 1998, personal computers and cell phones contributed to more growth, as did newer electronics in cars. At the same time, material prices went up, and an Asian currency crisis added to AVX's troubles. Layoffs resulted, but by 2000 the company was doing well again, adding operations in El Salvador and the Czech Republic.
By the end of fiscal 2001, AVX had 26 plants in 12 countries, 21,000 employees, and sales of $2.6 billion. But a recession put an end to the good times, and revenues dropped to $1.25 billion; employee numbers totalled 12,500. Production moved to the Czech Republic and China.
The industry situation appeared to improve by 2004, though AVX still lost money.[4][5]
In 2007, Myrtle Beach property owners near the AVX plant filed suit, claiming trichloroethylene (TCE) from the plant has polluted their neighborhood and lowered property values. A 2008 lawsuit by condominium developers claimed the pollution stopped a planned project. Those who sued worried AVX operations might leave Myrtle Beach.
On December 3, 2009, AVX announced it would move corporate headquarters to Greenville, South Carolina, with about 150 jobs leaving the Myrtle Beach area. The company planned no change to manufacturing in Conway and Myrtle Beach.[6]
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