Flex (company)

Flex Ltd.[2] (previously known as Flextronics International Ltd. or Flextronics) is an American headquartered multinational diversified manufacturing company. It is the third[3] largest global electronics manufacturing services (EMS), original design manufacturer (ODM) company by revenue, behind only Pegatron for what concerns original equipment manufacturers. Flex's U.S. corporate headquarters are located in Austin, Texas.[4] The company has manufacturing operations in over 30 countries, totaling about 172,000 employees.

Flex Ltd.
TypePublic
Nasdaq: FLEX
Industry
Founded25 September 1969 (1969-09-25) (as Flextronics, Inc.)
Founders
  • Joe McKenzie
  • Barbara Ann McKenzie
HeadquartersAustin, Texas, U.S. (operations)
Singapore (legal domicile)
Number of locations
100
Key people
RevenueIncrease US$30.35 billion (2023)
Increase US$1.18 billion (2023)
Increase US$1.03 billion (2023)
Total assetsIncrease US$21.4 billion (2023)
Total equityIncrease US$5.71 billion (2023)
Number of employees
172,108 (March 2023)
WebsiteFlex.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
Flex offices/warehouse in Łódź

History
Flextronics' Singapore headquarters, circa August 2006
Logo used until 2015

The company was founded in 1969 as Flextronics, Inc.[5]

In 1990, the company was renamed Flextronics International, Ltd. and registered in Singapore. In 1993, the company received venture capital funding through Sequoia Capital,[6] and became a publicly held company again in 1994. In 2000, the company ranked third on "100 Best-Managed Companies" by IndustryWeek. In 2006 Flextronics took over a part of the production of Lego, but in 2009 Lego decided to end relations with Flextronics and purchase the production facilities in Mexico and Hungary. On 4 June 2007, Flextronics offered to purchase Solectron for US$3.6 billion and thus making Solectron a subsidiary of Flextronics. The acquisition of Solectron was completed by end of October 2007, earlier than anticipated.

On 18 March 2009, Flextronics was invited to ring the NASDAQ stock market opening bell, signifying the day's start of trading and celebrated 15-year NASDAQ-listed anniversary. Mike McNamara (then-CEO) and a group of top executives represented the company at the ringing of the bell.[7] On 25 August 2009, Flextronics announced that it was chosen by LG Electronics (LGE), a global provider of advanced digital products and applied technologies, to manufacture 19, 22, 26, 32, and 37-inch LCD television receivers at its Ciudad Juárez, Mexico facility for distribution to the North and South American markets.[8] On 2 September 2009, Flextronics announced that Multek received Danaher Test and Measurement's 2009 Outstanding Supplier Award. The award was given based on quality, delivery performance, engineering support and cost for work with two of Danaher's business units, Tektronix and Fluke.[9]

On 15 September 2010, Flextronics announced that it had been chosen by Brammo, Inc., former producer of electric traction motors and traction batteries, to be its manufacturing partner for the production and distribution of plug-in electric motorcycles and components. In 2010, the company signed an agreement with Lenovo to provide manufacturing for Europe. That same year, Flextronics also signed an agreement with Brammo to provide acquisition and manufacturing in North America, Asia and Europe.

In 2012, Flextronics incubated Elementum, a start-up supply chain management (SCM) company based in Mountain View, California. In 2014, Elementum was spun off from Flextronics as its own separate entity.[10]

In 2014, Flextronics was named as the manufacturer of the Fitbit Force by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in the context of a complete recall of the product due to rashes developing on the wrists of its users.[11]

In July 2015 the company announced it changed the company name from Flextronics to Flex.[12]

In September 2015, Flex acquired Nextracker, one of the leading solar tracker companies, for $330 million.[13]

In November 2015, Flex, acquired Wink smart home platform to bring the Intelligence of Things "Home". Flex has been a strategic partner to Wink, serving as their primary supplier of hardware and firmware, including the Wink Hub and Wink Relay, which include core intellectual property developed within Flex.[14] In July 2017, Flex sold Wink to i.am+ for $38.7 million.[15]

On 31 December 2018, Michael M. McNamara resigned as the company's Chief Executive Officer.[16] On 11 February 2019, Flex announced Revathi Advaithi as CEO. Prior to Flex, Advaithi was president and chief operating officer for the Electrical Sector business for Eaton Corporation.[17]

Controversies

Breach of contracts

Flextronics was sued in what was apparent in breach of contract with Beckman Coulter Inc., a maker of medical devices. The case dates from 1997, when Beckman Coulter entered into an agreement with Dovatron, a unit of the Dii Group, to provide circuit boards for a Beckman blood analyser. Flextronics acquired the Dii Group in 1999 and, according to Beckman, shortly thereafter Flextronics refused to provide the circuit boards unless it bought other electronic components from the company.

Beckman filed suit in early 2001, seeking $2.2 million in damages, which were cited as the costs incurred in having to retool one of its plants to manufacture the circuit boards in-house.[18][19] At the end of the trial, Flextronics paid $23 million for the damages.[20]

Leak of USB charger confidential shipment data

A former Flextronics executive pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and security fraud by providing confidential information related to USB charger shipment data used for U.S. based iPhones and iPods in 2009.[21]

Seizure of Huawei goods over tariff war

According to a 2019 report, Flex produced smartphone and 5G base stations for Huawei, and when the US added Huawei to its Entity List on May 16, Flex kept Huawei's assets at its factory in Zhuhai.

This included production equipment, raw materials, and half-made products worth approximately 700 million yuan ($101.85 million).[22] These goods were held up for over a month, however Huawei was able to retrieve some of the goods worth 400 million yuan through third-party channels in June 2019.[23]

References
  1. "Form 10-K for FY 2023". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  2. "People and Company-wide Culture". flex.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  3. "The MMI Top 50 Press Release". Manufacturing Market Insider. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. "Form 10-K for FY 2023". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  5. "Making history: The rise of Flex and the technological revolution | Flex.com". flex.com. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  6. "Sequoia – Flextronics". Sequoia Capital. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  7. "Flextronics International". Companieshistory.com. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  8. "Flextronics Selected by LG Electronics to Manufacture Assorted LCD TV Products for North and South American Markets". PR Newswire. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  9. "Multek Wins Danaher Test and Measurement's 2009 Outstanding Supplier Partnership Award". PR Newswire. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  10. Gage, Deborah (4 February 2014). "Flextronics Spins Off Startup to Put Supply Chain Software in the Cloud". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  11. "Fitbit Recalls Force Activity Tracking Wristband - CPSC.gov". Cpsc.gov. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  12. "Flextronics Officially Changes Name to Flex". PR Newswire. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  13. Kanellos, Michael. "Flextronics: A Quiet Giant In Solar". Forbes. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. "Flex to Bring the Intelligence of Things Home with Wink Acquisition". PR Newswire. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  15. Lunden, Ingrid (27 July 2017). "i.am+ buys Wink, the smart home hub formerly owned by Flex and Quirky". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  16. "Flex CEO, Mike McNamara, to Retire". prnewswire.com. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. "Flex Announces Revathi Advaithi as CEO". flex.com. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  18. "Callahan & Blaine Wins $934 Million for Beckman Coulter". Callahan & Blaine. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  19. "California Jury Awards Beckman Coulter $934 Million". Mddionline.com. 1 November 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  20. Thurm, Scott (28 November 2003). "Flextronics Will Pay $23 Million To Beckman to Settle a Lawsuit". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  21. Dignan, Larry. "Apple's weak link on secrets: Contract equipment manufacturing? – ZDNet". ZDNet. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  22. Jiang, Sijia (6 August 2019). "Exclusive: China's Huawei seeks compensation from Flex over withheld goods". Euronews. Reu. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  23. Jiang, Sijia. "Electronics maker Flex 'seized' $100 million of Huawei goods in China: Global Times". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  • Media related to Flextronics at Wikimedia Commons
  • Business data for Flex Ltd.:
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