About
Siemens began in 1847 when inventor Werner von Siemens — then an army officer — built an improved pointer telegraph and founded a company with Johann Georg Halske in a Berlin backyard. Within two decades the company was laying telegraph lines from London to Calcutta, and by the early 20th century Siemens was one of the world's first global technology companies — a record of invention that spans the dynamo, the electric locomotive, and the first commercial computer in Germany. Today Siemens is a sprawling technology group with four main businesses: digital industries (factory automation, industrial software like the Simatic PLC and the Xcelerator platform), smart infrastructure (building automation, electrical distribution, charging infrastructure), mobility (trains, rail automation, signaling — its Velaro high-speed trains run in China, Spain, and Turkey), and Siemens Healthineers (medical imaging and diagnostics). Its industrial software and automation form the backbone of Germany's Industry 4.0 push. With about 320,000 employees and annual revenue near €78 billion, Siemens has spent the past decade reshaping itself — selling its energy business (now Siemens Energy), its lighting business, and its gas turbines, while buying industrial software makers like Mentor and Altair. The result is a company that still builds trains and factories, but increasingly sells the software and data platforms that run them — the 175-year-old inventor remade as a digital industrial giant.
Also known as: Siemens
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Siemens do?+
Siemens is a technology group with four main businesses: digital industries (factory automation and industrial software), smart infrastructure (building automation and electrical distribution), mobility (trains and rail automation), and Siemens Healthineers (medical imaging).
Where is Siemens based?+
Siemens is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with about 320,000 employees and annual revenue near €78 billion.
Who founded Siemens?+
Siemens was founded in 1847 by inventor Werner von Siemens, an army officer, together with Johann Georg Halske, in a Berlin backyard.
Who owns Siemens?+
Siemens is a publicly traded company listed on the German stock exchange. It has sold its energy, lighting and gas turbine businesses and now focuses on industrial software, automation and digital infrastructure.
