Schott AG#Schott Solar

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File:First ELT Main Mirror Segments Successfully Cast.webm (ELT) being cast by Schott]]

In 1884, Otto Schott, Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and his son Roderich Zeiss founded the Glastechnische Laboratorium Schott & Genossen (Glass Technical Laboratory Schott & Associates) in Jena, Thuringia, Germany{{Cite book |last1=Kotler |first1=Philip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYNBbCvK69UC&q=Glastechnische+Laboratorium+Schott+%26+Genossen&pg=PA237 |title=Ingredient Branding: Making the Invisible Visible |last2=Pfoertsch |first2=Waldemar |date=17 May 2010 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-04214-0 |pages=237}}{{Cite book |last=Bertele |first=Erhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bKIDwAAQBAJ&q=Glastechnische+Laboratorium+Schott+%26+Genossen&pg=PA27 |title=LUDWIG J. BERTELE: A Pioneer of Geometric Optics |date=27 March 2019 |publisher=vdf Hochschulverlag AG |isbn=978-3-7281-3955-9 |pages=27}} which initially produced optical glasses for microscopes and telescopes.Werner Vogel: Glass Chemistry, 2. Edition, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1994, S. 10. In 1891, the Carl Zeiss Foundation, founded two years earlier by Ernst Abbe, became a partner in the glass laboratory.{{Cite web |title=Carl Zeiss (company timeline) |url=http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/86/carl-zeiss-company-timeline |website=The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments – Harvard University}} Jena glass, an early borosilicate glass, was one of its early manufactured products.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQFFAQAAMAAJ&q=%22jena+glass%22+schott&pg=PA498 |title=Practical Engineer |publisher=Technical Publishing Company |year=1896 |pages=498}} Otto Schott's invention of borosilicate glass, resistant to chemicals, heat and temperature change, paved the way for new technical glasses for thermometers, laboratory equipment and gas lamps.{{cite web| url = https://www.lichtgedanken.uni-jena.de/en/archive/lichtgedanken-11/feature/the-history-of-glass-research-in-jena | title = The history of glass research in Jena | last = Hollstein | first = Sebastian| date = 2022 | website = Lichtgedanken | publisher = Friedrich Schiller University Jena | language = en | access-date = 2024-03-26}}

File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006070 001 Messebesucher vor dem Exponat des Jenaer Glaswerks Schott ^ Gen..jpg

The company experienced economic success. The workforce had grown to 1,233 by 1919.{{Cite book |last1=Kappler |first1=Dieter |title=Schott : 1884–2009; vom Glaslabor zum Technologiekonzern |last2=Steiner |first2=Jürgen |last3=Schott AG |publisher=Schmidt |year=2009 |page=57 |isbn=978-3-935647-45-8 |location=Mainz |oclc=467893033}} Sales had doubled to 28 million marks by 1920. Otto Schott transferred his shares to the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1919, fully rendering the glass laboratory a foundation company and renaming it Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen (Jena Glassworks Schott & Assoc.).{{Cite book |last=Pederson |first=Jay P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0kkAQAAMAAJ&q=Carl+Zeiss+Foundation+1919+schott |title=International Directory of Company Histories |publisher=St. James Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-1-55862-393-4}}{{Cite book |last=King |first=Henry C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&q=Carl+Zeiss+Foundation+1919+schott&pg=PA346 |title=The History of the Telescope |date=January 2003 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-43265-6}} Erich Schott, the founder's son, took over management of the glass factory in 1927. Erich Schott founded new production areas for specialty glass components used in electrical engineering as well as heat resistant borosilicate glassware for household use.{{cite web| url = https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118759140.html | title = Schott, Erich | last = Steiner | first = Jürgen | date = 2007 | website = Deutsche Biographie | language = de | access-date = 2023-03-08}}

In the midst of Germany's political division after World War II, the Jena factory was expropriated and transformed into a Publicly Owned Enterprise (VEB) in 1948. The company was divided in half: VEB Jenaer Glaswerk in Jena in East Germany, later integrated into the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena collective, and Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen in Mainz in West Germany.{{cite web | url = https://www.springerprofessional.de/keramik---glas/strukturwerkstoffe/zug-der-41-glasmacher/18121906 | title = Zug der 41 Glasmacher | last = Buchholz | first = Leyla | date = 2020-06-26 | publisher = Springer Professional| language = de | access-date = 2023-07-31}}{{cite web | url = http://waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/2653/veb-carl-zeiss-jena | title = VEB Carl Zeiss Jena: 1948 - 1990 | publisher = Harvard University | access-date = 2023-07-31}} While VEB Jenaer Glaswerk developed into a specialty glass supplier in the Eastern Bloc, the other half developed into an international group in Mainz with sales offices abroad.{{Cite web |title=Milestones – The corporate history at a glance |url=http://www.schott.com/english/company/corporate_history/milestones.html |access-date=21 January 2020 |website=www.schott.com}} The company became a specialist glass manufacturer with products including glass components for television tubes, fiber optics for light and image conductors, mirror substrates for giant telescopes, glass-ceramic cooktop panels (serial production from 1973) and glass tubes for parabolic trough power plants. Following the German reunification, the Mainz plant assumed Jena's company shares.

The company experienced growth in the first decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Schott Glas, as it became known in 1998, developed into a technology group with 80 companies in 32 countries and global sales of over 3 billion Deutschmark. Schott had been operating at only 40 sites in ten countries with global sales of DM 1.31 billion in 1984. In 2004, Schott Glas converted from a dependent enterprise of its sister enterprise Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen) to become a legally independent Aktiengesellschaft—Schott AG.{{Cite news |date=2 July 2004 |title=SCHOTT ist jetzt Aktiengesellschaft |language=de |trans-title=SCHOTT is now joint-stock company |publisher=analytica-world news, Messe München GmbH |location=Munich |url=https://www.analytica-world.com/de/news/38325/schott-ist-jetzt-aktiengesellschaft.html |access-date=2 December 2019}} The Carl Zeiss Foundation remains the sole shareholder of Schott AG. The Foundation Statute does not permit to sell its shares, ruling out the prospect of an IPO.

The technology group entered the solar industry in 2001, founding Schott Solar GmbH in 2005 (renamed Schott Solar AG in 2008).

In 2008, Schott announced that it planned to produce crystalline photovoltaic cells and modules with a total of 450 MW annually. It also planned to produce thin-film PV wafers with a capacity of 100 MW.{{Cite web |title=Schott AG to build PV production in USA |url=http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4190779/Schott-AG-to-build-PV-production-in-USA |access-date=15 March 2016 |website=EETimes}}http://www.schott.com/solar/english/index.html Website Schott Solar In 2009, the company inaugurated a US$100 million solar manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA to build solar receivers for concentrated solar thermal power plants (CSP) and 64 MW of photovoltaic modules. They had already been making 15 MW of photovoltaics annually in Billerica, Massachusetts, until the factory was closed in 2009.{{Cite web |title=Schott Solar to shutter PV module production facility in Billerica, MA |url=http://www.pv-tech.org/news/schott_solar_to_shutter_pv_module_production_facility_in_billerica_ma |access-date=15 March 2016 |website=PV-Tech |date=3 June 2009}}

The company was also engaged in concentrated solar power technology, by manufacturing solar receiver tubes.

In June 2012, Schott announced that its Albuquerque plant would close down, laying off all photovoltaic cell manufacturing employees immediately and ramping down the remaining employees over the rest of the summer.{{Cite web |last=Robinson-Avila |first=Kevin |title=Updated: Schott Solar Mesa del Sol Plant To Shut |url=http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2012/06/29/news/schott-solar-mesa-del-sol-plant-to-shut.html |access-date=15 March 2016 |website=www.abqjournal.com}} Schott withdrew from its solar business in 2012 and Schott Solar AG was dissolved.

Torsten Derr is the company's CEO. He took over in January 2025 from Frank Heinricht, who had held the position from 2013 to 2024.{{cite news |last1=Schmelzer |first1=Lisa |title=Neuer Schott-CEO kommt von SGL Carbon |url=https://www.boersen-zeitung.de/personen/neuer-schott-ceo-kommt-von-sgl-carbon |publisher=Börsen Zeitung |date=8 October 2024 |language=de}}

SCHOTT reported sales worth 2.05 billion Euros in its fiscal year 2016–2017.{{Cite web |title=Annual Report 2016/17 |url=http://www.schott.com/english/company/business_report.html |access-date=23 January 2018 |publisher=SCHOTT}} In 2017–2018 sales increase to 2.08 billion euros with an annual profit of 208 million euros. In 2019, SCHOTT reported sales worth 2.2. billion Euros with an annual profit of 206 million euros. SCHOTT AG employs around 16.200 people in production and sales facilities in 34 countries, including around 5,800 in Germany (as of 2019).{{Cite web |url=http://www.schott.com/english/company/business_report.html |title=SCHOTT Facts & Figures}} SCHOTT increased its global sales by 2.2% in 2020 to reach US$2.5 billion, with an improved operating profit (EBIT) of US$320 million. The number of employees rose to around 16,500.{{Cite web |title=SCHOTT eyes U.S. growth strategy as sales and earnings increase in 2020 {{!}} SCHOTT AG |url=https://www.schott.com/english/news/press.html?NID=com5883 |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=www.schott.com}}

The sole owner of Schott AG is the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which holds all shares and is partly financed from the dividends.

File:Schott AG Mainz Aerial Photo.jpg

Schott's corporate headquarters and largest site is located in Mainz, Germany.{{cite web |title=SCHOTT Mainz |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations/mainz |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} Its main business regions are Europe, North America, and Asia. In Europe, it operates production sites in six locations in Germany, as well as in the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey.{{cite web |title=Regions and Locations Europe |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations?tab=d2787761371f43f9ac361a914da60840 |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} In addition to its North American corporate office in Rye Brook, New York,{{cite web |title=SCHOTT Rye Brook, NY |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations/rye-brook-ny |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} it has six US production sites in Duryea and Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Southbridge, Massachusetts; Louisville, Kentucky; Vincennes, Indiana; and Phoenix, Arizona.{{cite web |title=Regions and Locations US |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations?tab=f999ae5c2d20453285e6ff5400a858c1 |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} In Asia, Schott has productions in India,{{cite web |title=Regions and Locations India |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations?tab=257dcbabb7e84d6d8a09de5b82fa285d&selected=c863e7991f974b859eda1735b550bd32 |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} Malaysia,{{cite web |title=Penang, Malaysia SCHOTT |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations/penang |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}} and China.{{cite web |title=Regions and Locations China |url=https://www.schott.com/en-us/about-us/company/regions-and-locations?tab=b63f2f47a3944b85b524b5c8d5d27a28 |access-date=3 July 2024 |publisher=Schott AG}}

Schott produces products made of specialty glass, glass-ceramics, and polymers for industries such as home appliances, pharmaceuticals, electronics, semiconductors, optics, life sciences, automotive, aerospace and astronomy.{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-hr/about-us/company/facts-and-figures | title = Facts and Figures SCHOTT | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = Schott AG | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}

In the consumer market, glass-ceramics from Schott are used in cooktops for electric, gas, and induction cooking under the brand name CERAN.{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-induction-cooktop/ | title = The Best Induction Cooktop | last = Wharton | first = Rachel | date = 24 August 2023 | website = The New York Times | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}

In industry, its glass-ceramic Zerodur is used in microlithography and as mirror substrates for large optical telescopes{{cite web | url = https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/37188-zerodur | title = ZERODUR: The Highly Technical Glass-Ceramic | last = Sokach | first = Stephen | date = 1 July 2020 | website = techbriefs.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} such as:

• European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope in Chile,
• Gran Telescopio Canarias in Spain,{{cite web | url = https://www.gtc.iac.es/gtc/gtc.php | title = Introducing the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS | author= | date = | website = www.gtc.iac.es | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}
• Keck I and II telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.{{cite web | url = https://www.keckobservatory.org/a_mirrors_perfect_reflection/ | title = A Mirror's Perfect Reflection | author= | date = 28 May 2010 | website = keckobservatory.org | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}

Other applications include flat glass for home appliances,{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-cz/products/processed-flat-glass-p1000304 | title = Processed Flat Glass | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} components for consumer electronics{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-vn/markets/consumer-electronics | title = Consumer Electronics | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} and semiconductor manufacturing.{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-gb/markets/semiconductor-and-datacom | title = Semiconductor & Datacom | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} It also produces glass and filters with applications in digital cameras,{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-us/markets/consumer-electronics | title = Consumer Electronics | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} laser optics, machine vision, and metrology.{{cite web | url = https://www.schott.com/en-vn/markets/optics | title = Optics | author= | date = | website = schott.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} Some of its more recent applications include ultra-thin and flexible cover glass for smartphone displays{{cite web | url = https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/schott-praesentiert-ultraduennes-glas-utg-fuer-smartphone-bei-display-messe-in-los-angeles-100.html | title = SCHOTT Mainz will mit ultradünnem Glas den Smartphonemarkt aufmischen | last = Hartmann | first = Ilona | date = 23 May 2023 | website = swr.de | publisher = SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz | language = de | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }} and glass wafers for augmented reality.{{cite web | url = https://www.laserfocusworld.com/optics/article/14167405/schott-inkron-evg-and-waveoptics-team-up-to-fabricate-next-gen-waveguides-for-ar-and-mr-devices | title = Schott, Inkron, EVG, and WaveOptics team up to fabricate next-gen waveguides for AR and MR devices | last = Wallace | first = John | date = 11 February 2020 | website = www.laserfocusworld.com | publisher = | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}

Schott's subsidiary Schott Pharma develops and produces pharmaceutical packaging such as ampoules, cartridges, syringes, and vials.{{cite web | url = https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/germanys-schott-launch-medical-glassware-ipo-late-summer-source-2023-06-22/ | title = Germany's Schott to launch medical glassware IPO in late summer | author= | date = 22 June 2023 | website = reuters.com | publisher = Reuters | access-date = 11 January 2024 | quote = }}

File:Motiv gebogenes Glas.jpg|Flexible ultra-thin glass

File:2018-01-19 Bilanzpressekonferenz Schott AG-4944.jpg|Zerodur lightweight mirror substrate

File:KeckObservatory20071013.jpg|Keck II telescope's segmented primary mirror made of Zerodur

File:Schott Ceran glass-ceramic cooktop.jpg|Ceran glass-ceramic cooktop

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Category:1884 establishments in Germany

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