Amphenol Corporation is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems such as Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...

s. Amphenol is a portmanteau from the corporation's original name, American Phenolic Corp.

Amphenol was founded in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1932 by entrepreneur Arthur Schmitt, whose first product was a tube socket

Tube socket

Tube sockets are electrical sockets into which vacuum tubes can be plugged, holding them in place and providing terminals, which can be soldered into the circuit, for each of the pins. Sockets are designed to allow tubes to be plugged in in only one orientation...

 for radio tubes

Vacuum tube

In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

. Amphenol expanded significantly during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when the company became the primary manufacturer of connectors used in military hardware, including airplanes and radios. From 1967 to 1982 it was part of Bunker Ramo Corporation

Bunker Ramo Corporation

Bunker Ramo Corporation was founded by George M. Bunker and Simon Ramo in 1964, jointly owned by Martin-Marietta and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge TRW . The resulting company, Bunker-Ramo, was based in Trumbull, Connecticut....

.

Amphenol's revenues in 2010 were $3.55 billion. The company sells its products into diverse electronics markets, including military-aerospace, industrial, automotive, information technology, mobile phones, wireless infrastructure, broadband, medical, and pro audio. Operations are located in more than 60 locations around the world. The company is included in the S&P Midcap 400 index

S&P 400

The S&P 400 MidCap Index, more commonly known as the S&P 400, is a stock market index from Standard & Poor's.It covers roughly the mid-cap range of US stocks.-Investing:The following ETFs attempt to track this index and sub-indexes:*Index Fund: &...

. Amphenol's Chairman is Dr. Martin H. Loeffler.Chief Executive Officer is R. Adam Norwitt.

Amphenol's world headquarters is located in Wallingford, Connecticut

Wallingford, Connecticut

Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 43,026 at the 2000 census.- History :Wallingford was established on October 10, 1667, when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the "making of a village on the east river" to 38 planters and freemen...

. The largest division of Amphenol is Amphenol Aerospace (formerly Bendix Corporation

Bendix Corporation

The Bendix Corporation was an American manufacturing and engineering company which during various times in its 60 year existence made brake systems, aeronautical hydraulics, avionics, aircraft and automobile fuel control systems, radios, televisions and computers, and which licensed its name for...

) in Sidney

Sidney (village), New York

Sidney is a village in Delaware County, New York, USA. The population was 4,068 at the 2000 census.The Village of Sidney is in west part of the Town of Sidney.-History:The village was named for Admiral Sir Sidney Smith.-Geography:...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. This is the birth place of the D38999 cylindrical connector. Amphenol engineers also invented the commonly-used BNC connector

BNC connector

The BNC connector ' is a common type of RF connector used for coaxial cable. It is used with radio, television, and other radio-frequency electronic equipment, test instruments, video signals, and was once a popular computer network connector. BNC connectors are made to match the characteristic...

 ("Bayonet Neill-Concelman").

Amphenol Cables on Demand, another division of Amphenol launched in December 2006, specializes in distributing standard cable assemblies via their e-commerce storefront. They sell more than 2500 audio, video, computer, and networking cables. Offices are located in New York, California, Florida, and China.

Acquisitions

In May 2005, Amphenol acquired SV Microwave, an RF connector, components, and cable assembly manufacturer.

On October 10, 2005, Teradyne

Teradyne

Teradyne , a US company, is a supplier of automatic test equipment . The company's divisions Semiconductor Test and Systems Test Group, are organized by the products they develop and deliver.-History:...

 and Amphenol announced that Amphenol would acquire Teradyne Connection Systems, for about USD $390 million in cash. TCS, based in Nashua

Nashua, New Hampshire

-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...

, New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, manufactures high-density electronic

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

 connector

Electrical connector

An electrical connector is an electro-mechanical device for joining electrical circuits as an interface using a mechanical assembly. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, require a tool for assembly and removal, or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two wires or...

s, complete backplane

Backplane

A backplane is a group of connectors connected in parallel with each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors forming a computer bus. It is used as a backbone to connect several printed circuit boards together to make up a complete...

s, and systems packaging, a product line that complements Amphenol's existing lines of business.

In February 2008, Amphenol acquired SEFEE, a French electronic manufacturer, the next year in 2009 it acquired Jaybeam Wireless. Jaybeam Wireless became Amphenol Jaybeam.