ABB, an abbreviation for Asea Brown Boveri, is a renowned Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation operating mainly in robotics, power, heavy electrical equipment, and automation technology. The company is one of the leaders in their field with a rich history spanning over a century and today the company operates on a massive scale, with over 100.000 employees. ABB is headquartered in Switzerland, and its stock is traded on both the Stockholm and Zurich stock exchanges.

A Merger Between Two Historic Companies

ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, that was established in 1988 through a merger of ASEA (Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget) of Sweden and BBC (Brown, Boveri & Cie) of Switzerland, both founded in the late 19th century. ABB has played a key role in the development of numerous innovative products and systems, most notably in the fields of electrical engineering and automation.

Among their most notable inventions is the world's first commercial high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link, commissioned in 1954. ABB also played a pivotal role in the evolution of robotics, inventing the first all-electric microprocessor-controlled robot, the ABB IRB 6, in 1974. Today, the company continues to focus heavily on R&D, and more recently, apart from its traditional operations, ABB has started to work on various solutions for EV charging.

A Diverse Business Structure

ABB's operations are organized under four key business areas: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. Each segment serves a specific industry sector and offers specialized products and services.

The Electrification business area offers a range of products including circuit breakers, switches, EV charging infrastructure, and power distribution solutions. The Automation as well as the robotics division, which is two of the company’s more famous areas of operations provides solutions to help customers improve their operational performance, safety, and productivity.

Europeans Doing Business Around the World

ABB is a European company located in the heart of the continent, but their business stretches across the globe. ABB is active in over 100 countries all over the world and operates offices in several large business hubs outside of their home countries. ABB has evolved through a combination of innovation and organic growth and competes with other industry giants such as Samsung and General Electric.