Astec

File:PSU PCB (Osborne 1A).jpg portable computer manufactured by Astec]]

Astec was founded in British Hong Kong in 1971 by Brian Christopher and Neal Stewart, as a producer of DC-to-DC converter hardware.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=April 22, 1983 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULkgAQAAMAAJ&q=%22*+bsr+is+being+turned+into+a+mini%22 | title=Wyllie's big ideas for BSR | journal=Investors Chronicle | publisher=Throgmorton Publications | volume=66 | issue= | pages=41–45 | via=Google Books}}{{rp|41}}{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=May 15, 1999 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/222216602/ | title=Astec: Leading merchant power supply manufacturer continues 25-year tradition of innovation, quality, and service | journal=ECN | publisher=Cahners Business Information | page=112 | via=ProQuest}} Before founding Astec, Christopher had previously worked for IBM, while Stewart was an academic physicist. The company was founded with HK$2.4 million in start-up capital.{{cite journal | last=Wood | first=Christopher | date=August 11, 1983 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGiuAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Astec's+reverse+takeover+turns+the+tables%22+%221983%22 | title=Astec's reverse takeover turns the tables | journal=Far Eastern Economic Review | page=62 | via=Google Books}}

Astec's converters were initially purchased chiefly by manufacturers of electronic calculators, a market which was experiencing meteoric growth in the early 1970s. As the calculator market started to mature in the late 1970s, Astec started producing switched-mode power supply for the burgeoning personal computer market. In 1977, Astec signed a contract with Apple Computer to become the primary supplier of PSUs for their Apple II family of home computer systems.{{cite web | last=Mpitziopoulos | first=Aris | date=July 3, 2016 | url=https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/history-of-computers,4518-23.html | title=Apple I and II: Switching PSU and the Lack of Cooling Fans | work=Tom's Hardware | publisher=Future Publishing | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924214018/https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/history-of-computers,4518-23.html | archivedate=September 24, 2024}}{{cite journal | last=Socolovsky | first=A. | author2=M. F. Foley | date=July 1983 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A519284/GPS?u=wikipedia | title=Switching Supplies Grow in the Bellies of Computers | journal=Electronic Business | publisher=Reed Business Information | volume=9 | issue=7 | page=120 | via=Gale}} In 1981, IBM contracted Astec to manufacture the power supply unit of the original IBM PC. Their relationship with IBM lasted well over a decade and won them contracts with other computer vendors such as Hewlett-Packard.{{cite book | last=Mueller | first=Scott | date=1999 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6M1XAAAAYAAJ | edition=11th | title=Upgrading and Repairing PCs | publisher=Que | page=1133 | isbn=9780789719034 | via=Google Books}} Helped by these lucrative contracts, Astec grew to become the world's largest manufacturer of power supply units by 1985, taking the top spot from Lambda Electronics. The company were helped especially by their relationship with Apple, which had netted Astec $50 million in sales alone by June 1983.{{cite journal | last=Mehler | first=Mark | date=April 1, 1985 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrcnAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Standards:+A+switch+in+time+for+supplies%22 | title=Standards: A Switch in Time for Supplies | journal=Electronic Business Buyer | publisher=Cahners Publishing Company | volume=11 | issue= | page=74 | via=Google Books}}

Birmingham Sound Reproducers (BSR), a British manufacturer of home audio equipment, purchased a controlling 53.6-percent stake in the company in May 1980.{{cite journal | last=Brown | first=Maggie | date=April 25, 1981 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-bsr-in-20m-hong-kong-deal/158063513/ | title=BSR in £20m Hong Kong deal | journal=The Guardian | page=19 | via=Newspapers.com}} In 1981, BSR purchased the remaining 46.4 percent in Astec, acquiring the company outright.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=June 25, 1981 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/manchester-evening-news-53m-setback-at/158063797/ | title=£5.3m setback at Trusthouse | journal=Manchester Evening News | page=18 | via=Newspapers.com}} BSR had been struggling from debt and diminished sales around the time of the purchase, with Astec being BSR's only profitable asset in the fiscal year 1980, generating £1.3 million while the rest of the company posted losses in excess of £17.6 million.{{rp|45}} The acquisition of Astec was a success for BSR and saved the parent company from bankruptcy.{{cite journal | last=Brown | first=Maggie | date=March 26, 1982 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-bsr-finds-a-pot-of-gold-in/158061192/ | title=BSR finds a pot of gold in Far East | journal=The Guardian | page=19 | via=Newspapers.com}} By 1984, BSR began shedding its home audio assets as computer power supplies became the company's core business.{{cite journal | date=October 8, 1984 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/236643473/ | title=BSR: A High-Tech Rebirth in Hong Kong for a British Stereo Maker | journal=Bloomberg Businessweek | publisher=Bloomberg LP | issue=2863 | page=99 | via=ProQuest}} By the late 1980s, BSR was renamed to Astec (BSR) plc.{{cite journal | last=Christoffersen | first=John | date=August 6, 1989 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/north-county-times-acdc-purchase-brings/158061288/ | title=ACDC purchase brings headquarters here | journal=North County Times | page=D-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/north-county-times-acdc-purchase-brings/158061340/ D-8] | via=Newspapers.com}}{{rp|D-1}}

In 1989, Emerson Electric, an American manufacturer of electronic equipment, purchased a controlling stake (between 45 and 50 percent) in Astec (BSR) plc in exchange for several of Emerson's subsidiaries, including its largest power supply unit manufacturer ACDC Electronics.{{cite journal | last=Christoffersen | first=John | date=August 23, 1989 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/north-county-blade-citizen-electronics-f/158061237/ | title=Electronics firm blossoms in area | journal=North County Times | page=D-5 | via=Newspapers.com}} Emerson shortly after consolidated five of their other subsidiaries into Astec, massively growing the latter company. In 1999 Emerson acquired the remaining half of Astec outright. Sales in Astec began dwindling in the early 2000s amid the concurrent global downturn in the computer industry, and in 2006 Emerson folded Astec into Artesyn, another large power conversion company which Emerson had acquired that year.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=February 2, 2006 | url=https://www.eetimes.com/emerson-acquires-power-supplier-artesyn/ | title=Emerson acquires power supplier Artesyn | journal=EETimes | publisher=AspenCore | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20241029201608/https://www.eetimes.com/emerson-acquires-power-supplier-artesyn/ | archivedate=October 29, 2024}} Astec remained a division of Artesyn until 2014, when it was folded into the newly formed Artesyn Embedded Technologies, a company formed in the aftermath of Emerson's divestiture of Artesyn in 2013.{{cite web | last=Shepard | first=Jeff | date=February 5, 2014 | url=https://eepower.com/news/artesyn-embedded-technologies-rebranding-under-new-ownership/ | title=Artesyn Embedded Technologies Rebranding Under new Ownership | work=EEPower | publisher=EETech Group | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20241029201749/https://eepower.com/news/artesyn-embedded-technologies-rebranding-under-new-ownership/ | archivedate=October 29, 2024}}

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• {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102234825/https://astec.com/|date=January 2, 2008|title=Official website}}

Category:1971 establishments in Hong Kong

Category:1999 disestablishments in Hong Kong

Category:American companies established in 1971

Category:American companies disestablished in 1999

Category:British companies established in 1971

Category:British companies disestablished in 1999

Category:Computer companies established in 1971

Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1999

Category:Computer companies of Hong Kong

Category:Computer power supply unit manufacturers

Category:Defunct companies of Hong Kong

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States

Category:Defunct computer hardware companies

Category:Power supply manufacturers