Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) is a research-based, global pharmaceutical company. The Company discovers, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines for humans and animals. It operates in two business segments: Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. Pfizer also operates several other businesses, including the manufacture of gelatin capsules, contract manufacturing and bulk pharmaceutical chemicals. In June 2008, Pfizer completed the acquisition of all remaining outstanding shares of common stock of Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Inc. through a merger of Pfizer's wholly owned subsidiary, Explorer Acquisition Corp., with and into Encysive. In July 2009, Pfizer bought back a 29.52% stake in its Indian arm, Pfizer Limited, increasing its stake to 70.75%.In October 2009, Pfizer Inc. acquired Wyeth. In December 2009, Durata Therapeutics, Inc. acquired Vicuron Pharmaceuticals from Pfizer.
History
Pfizer was founded in 1849 as Charles Pfizer and Company, a chemicals business. Over the last century, it has aligned itself with the developing trends to become a research-based pharmaceutical company. Notably, Pfizer produced most of the penicillin used during World War II. Pfizer is now the world's largest pharmaceutical company, with over $48 billion in revenue in 2007.
In 2006, Pfizer sold its Consumer Healthcare unit to Johnson & Johnson for $16.6 billion. The sale of the Consumer Healthcare unit, which included many over-the-counter brands such as Listerine, Nicorette, Visine, Sudafed, and Neosporin, indicates Pfizer's renewed focus on pharmaceuticals.
Business Update
In the second quarter of 2009, sales fell by 9% from a year before to $10.98 billion. Net income fell 19% from $2.78 billion to $2.26 billion.The company cited adverse foreign exchange rate movements as the main driver of the weaker numbers Sales from established products like Lipitor and Zyrtec continued to weaken, the former due to patent loss and the latter due to intense competition.
For Q3 of 2009, Pfizer reported sales of $11.6 billion, a decrease of 3% from the same quarter of the previous year. Pfizer reported decreases in revenue from all of its major segments except for specialty care products, which grew 3% and includes the products Rebif and Revatio. Notable drivers of the decreased revenues include decreased Lipitor sales, loss of European exclusivity for the cancer drug, Camptosar, and continued decreased sales among drugs that are currently facing generic competition. Despite, the decrease in sales, Pfizer reported a 26% increase in net income to $2.89 billion, which the company attained through major cost-reduction initiatives. Pfizer raised its earnings outlook to $2.00-$2.05 from $1.30-$1.45 earnings per share, largely due to its acquisition of Wyeth, which it formally completed on October 15, 2009.
On November 5, 2008, Pfizer announced it had abandoned research on "changing regulatory perspectives" on prescription diet drugs. The news came after competitor Sanofi-Aventis announced they would be abandoning research of a drug of the same class, Acomplia, due to increased regulatory concerns over major psychological side effects.
On January 16, 2009, the FDA announced that it rejected Pfizer's osteoporosis drug Fabyln. While the drug appeared to be effective, regulators were concerned of increased risks of cancer. Last Updated (Thursday, 21 January 2010 12:46)
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) primarily conducts business in the automotive industry. Toyota also conducts business in the finance and other industries. It is organized in three segments: automotive operations, financial services operations and all other operations. Toyota’s automotive operations include the design, manufacture, assembly and sale of passenger cars, minivans and commercial vehicles, such as trucks and related parts and accessories. Toyota’s financial services business consists primarily of providing financing to dealers and their customers for the purchase or lease of Toyota vehicles. Toyota’s financial services also provide retail leasing through the purchase of lease contracts originated by Toyota dealers. Related to Toyota’s automotive operations is its development of intelligent transport systems (ITS). Toyota’s all other operations business segment includes the design and manufacture of prefabricated housing and information technology related businesses.
Business Segments
Business is divided into three main divisions:
Automobiles (89.5% of total Toyota revenue and 94.7% of net operating income)
The Auto segment includes the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion brands.
Toyota follows a pyramid strategy, selling large numbers of low-cost models (Corolla, Camry) and smaller numbers of higher-cost models (Tacoma pickup truck, Lexus luxury vehicles). This product breakdown reflects Toyota's strategy of segmenting the market into wealth levels and selling accordingly. Below are several of Toyota's most important models:
* Tundra: Toyota's newest pickup truck and a key piece of Toyota's North American strategy, the Tundra is intended to steal truck share from US competitors GM and Ford. Tundra sales started off strong, but recent market pressures (real estate and fuel costs) have worked to dramatically decrease demand. Toyota closed these two truck manufacturing facilities for several weeks during the summer of 2008, which reduced annual capacity in these two plants to 45% and 72%, respectively. Despite this, Toyota continues to invest in the product, hopeful that by adding a diesel variant and a larger heavy duty version of the truck they can continue to increase market share.
* Lexus: Toyota's luxury division, Lexus has been focused on North America since its 1989 launch. Last year some 80% of the 415,000 Lexus vehicles sold were sold in North America. Now Toyota is aggressively expanding the Lexus brand into Japanese markets. As a luxury brand, Lexus's success is particularly important to Toyota--each Lexus sold yields significantly more profit for the company than do mass-market counterparts.
* Prius: The Prius is Toyota's first hybrid line. A Lexus hybrid is just now entering markets, but Prius remains the hybrid standard for Toyota as well as the rest of the industry. This is due in part to Toyota's role as one of the first car makers to develop hybrid technology. However, Toyota now leases its technology to Ford and faces hybrid competition from Honda. With government subsidies for hybrid vehicles running out, Toyota may find itself depending on the innate popularity of the Prius to maintain sales. In the summer of 2008, Toyota was unable to produce enough of the Prius to satisfy market demand, which resulted in a 34% drop in Prius sales. Toyota has responded by announcing plans to begin manufacturing the Prius for the first time in the United States; in a Mississippi factory originally planned for truck and SUV production. Largely because of the Prius, Toyota vehicles represent 73% of the hybrids sold in the U.S.
Financial (5.5% of total revenue and 3.8% of net operating income)
Toyota's financial arm provides various credit services to customers.
Other (4.9% of total revenue and 1.5% of operating income)
Toyota's other segment includes revenue from investments as far-flung as housing, aerospace, marine operations, biotechnology, and telecommunications. Last Updated (Thursday, 21 January 2010 12:41)
Tesco Corporation (TESCO) designs, manufactures and services delivery of technology based solutions for the energy industry. The Company’s product and service offerings include proprietary technology, including TESCO CASING DRILLING (CASING DRILLING), TESCO’s Casing Drive System (CDS) and TESCO’s Multiple Control Line Running System (MCLRS). The Company’s four business segments are Top Drive, Tubular Services, CASING DRILLING and Research and Engineering. The Top Drive business consists of top drive sales, top drive rentals and after-market sales and service. The Tubular Services business includes both its proprietary and conventional Tubular Services. The CASING DRILLING segment consists of its proprietary CASING DRILLING technology. The Research and Engineering (R&E) segment consists of its research and development activities related to its proprietary Tubular Services, CASING DRILLING technology and Top Drive model development.
Not to be confused with the British retailer, TESCO Corporation was formed on December 9, 1993 as a result of a merger between Coexco Petroleum Inc., Tesco Corporation, Forewest Industries Ltd. and Shelter Oil and Gas Ltd. The company provides drilling (Top Drives) and casing services to oil companies in order to extract natural resources from the earth. Although Tesco makes most its revenue from its Top Drive segment, it is working to promote its Tubular Services division. As a result, Tesco employs many proprietary technologies including TESCO CASING DRILLING® (“CASING DRILLING”), its Casing Drive System (“CDS™” or “CDS”) and its Multiple Control Line Running System (“MCLRS™” or “MCLRS”) to create structural support for both offshore and land-based wells.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Tesco Co. employs 1,834 people to provide Oilfield technologies for drilling contractors, rig builders and equipment brokers, independent oil companies, and national oil companies. Last Updated (Thursday, 21 January 2010 12:32)
Siemens AG (Siemens) is engaged in electronics and electrical engineering. The Company is an integrated technology company with core activities in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare. Siemens operates in six segments: Industry, Energy, Healthcare, Equity Investments, Siemens IT Solutions and Services and Siemens Financial Services. Industry, Energy and Healthcare segments are reported along with 14 divisions, which comprise the Divisions Industry Automation, Drive Technologies, Building Technologies, Osram, Industry Solutions and Mobility belonging to the Industry Sector, the divisions Fossil Power Generation, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas, Power Transmission and Power Distribution belonging to the Energy Sector, and the Divisions Imaging & Information Technology (IT), Workflow & Solutions and Diagnostics belonging to the Healthcare Sector.
Organization structure
Since 1 January 2008, the company is divided into 3 sectors and a total of 15 divisions.
* Industry Sector
- Drive Technology
- Industry Automation
- Building Technologies
+ Fire Safety & Security Products
+ Security Solutions
+ Heating & Ventilation Products
+ Building Automation
- Industry Solutions
- Water Technologies [30]
- Metal Technology Division
- Mobility (see Siemens Mobility)
- Osram
- Market Specific Solutions
- Financial Solutions
- IT Solutions and Services
- Communication Networks
* Energy Sector
- Fossil Power Generation
- Renewable Energy
- Oil & Gas
- Service Rotating Equipment
- Power Transmission
- Power Distribution
- Financial Solutions
- IT Solutions and Services
* Healthcare Sector
- Diagnostic Imaging and Therapy
- Laboratory Diagnostics
- Infrastructure Solutions
- Hearing Instruments
- Financial Solutions
- IT Solutions and Services Last Updated (Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:47)
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. provides communication products. The Company operates its business through four business divisions: digital media division, information and communication division, semiconductor division and liquid crystal display (LCD) division. Its digital media division provides televisions (TVs), videocassette recorders (VCRs), camcorders, digital versatile disc players, digital audio players, digital set top boxes (STBs), home theaters, audios and home appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and others. Its information and communication division provides computers, moving picture experts group audio layer 3 (MP3) players, mobile phones and others. Its semiconductor division offers memory chips, hard disc drives (HDDs) and others. Its LCD division offers thin film transistor (TFT) LCD modules and others. It also provides visual security systems (VSSs). On January 1, 2010, Samsung TechWin Co., Ltd. acquired its VSS business.
Business Segments
The company operates through four main business segments: Digital Media, Telecommunication Networks, Semiconductor, and LCD. Samsung electronics manufactures appliances including TVs, refrigerators, washers, air conditioners, and calculators.
* Digital Media (35% of Sales): This business line includes digital flat-panel TVs and monitors, audio and video equipment, cameras and camcorders, computers and peripherals, printers and multifunction devices, and home appliances. Samsung's TV and monitor business segments make up the largest portion of Samsung's net sales, with 42,191,768 million in KRW in 2008. Samsung's shipments in the TV business grew by 54% from 2007, as global market share increased to over 20%. Net Sales grew by nearly 28% in 2008. Samsung utilized patented technologies to increase TV sales, such as the digital natural image engine technology (DNle) in 2004.
* Telecommunication Networks (28% of sales): The telecommunication networks division includes mobile phones and telecommunications equipment. The product portfolio also consists of MP3 players and turnkey telecommunications network solutions, as well as 4G technologies such as Mobile WIMAX and LTE. In 2008, Samsung delivered Mobile WIMAX network equipment to major operators in the US, Japan, Russia, and other markets. The company also delivered nearly 200 million phones during the year. Net sales for telecommunication networks grew by 29% in 2008 at 34,568,677 million in KRW. Since 2008, Samsung has focused specifically on consumer marketing for their mobile phones. Samsung's Anycall line has been highly successful since 1994, and the TouchWiz UI reflects the adaptability of Samsung's mobile phones to any operating system.
* Semiconductor (17% of sales): Samsung is also a global leader in memory, logic semiconductors, and hard drive storage systems. It is a top supplier of flash memory, SRAM, displayer driver ICs, and MP3 player system-on-chip devices. Samsung is involved in the development of emerging high-tech market segments such as solid-state drive (SSD) storage and "fusion" hybrid semiconductor solutions. At 22,353,359 million in KRW, net sales remained relatively the same in 2008.
* LCD (12% of sales): The LCD division includes LCD panels for the TV, monitor, notebook, and digital information display markets. At 21,517,568 million in KRW, net sales grew by 26% in 2008. Last Updated (Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:39)
|
| 
| 
