building in tokyo type public kk traded as tyo 6810 industry electronics founded november 7 1947 ; 68 years ago 1947 11 07 osaka prefecture japan headquarters tokyo 2 18 2 iidabashi chiyoda ku tokyo 102 8521 japan kyoto 1 koizumi oyamazaki otokuni kyoto 618 8525 japan key people yoshiharu katsuta president and ceo products consumer and industrial batteries data storage devices optical lenses headphones led lightning products computer tapes functional materials rfid systems revenue 156.2 billion 2015 net income 3.9 billion 2015 number of employees 4 040 2015 parent hitachi ltd. 32 % website www2.maxell.co.jp footnotes references 1 2 3 hitachi maxell ltd. hitachi makuseru kabushiki gaisha commonly known as maxell is a japanese company that manufactures consumer electronics . the company s notable products are batteries the company s name is a contraction of maximum capacity dry cell wireless charging solutions storage devices computer tapes professional broadcast tapes and functional materials . 4 5 in the past the company manufactured recording media including audio cassettes and blank vhs tapes and recordable optical discs including cd r rw and dvd rw . on march 4 2008 maxell announced that it would outsource the manufacturing of their optical media . 6 contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 batteries 2.2 audio cassettes 2.3 mass storage 2.3.1 floppy 2.3.2 wi fi sd 3 advertising 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit maxell was formed in 1960 when a dry cell manufacturing plant was created at the company s headquarters in ibaraki osaka . in 1961 maxell electric industrial company limited was created out of the dry battery and magnetic tape divisions of nitto electric industrial company limited now nitto denko corporation . on march 18 2014 the company was listed on the first section of the tokyo stock exchange . 7 products edit batteries edit hitachi maxell along with nagasaki university niaist and fuji heavy industries the parent company of subaru makers of the r1e electric car has developed a new chemistry for lithium ion batteries . part of the change is dropping the expensive cobalt element and using nano infused lithium with manganese with 20 times more power storage and the ability to mass produce it inexpensively . 8 audio cassettes edit during the height of the compact audio cassette s popularity maxell s audio cassettes were held in high regard producing some of the finest examples of the standard available . the performance of the xlii s cro2 and mx pure metal particles cassettes was regarded by many who to be the ultimate achievement in the pre digital domestic recording medium . maxell audio cassettes are available in 46 60 90 100 120 and 150 minute lengths . mass storage edit floppy edit further information amstrad cpc floppy disk drive maxell 3 floppy disks maxell also produced floppy disks in the unusual 3 format which came to be used in computers such as the amstrad cpc line . compared to 3.5 floppies they are thicker and the metal cover protecting the disk is inside the plastic casing not outside . typical data carrying capacity was about 180 kb on each side . apart from amstrad s other 3 machines the pcw and the zx spectrum 3 the few other computer systems to use these disks included the sega sf 7000 and cp m systems such as the tatung einstein and osborne machines . they also found use on embedded systems . the 3 disks themselves were usually known as discs on the cpc following the spelling on the machine s plastic casing and conventional non american spelling disks . wi fi sd edit maxell airstash is a wi fi storage device ap mode so no router required that operates via an sd card inserted into the device s interior and ultimately determines storage capacity up to 2tb . 9 advertising edit in the 1980s maxell became an icon of pop culture when it produced advertisements popularly known as blown away guy for its line of audio cassettes . the original campaign conceived by art director lars anderson began as a two page spread in rolling stone magazine ad in 1980 and was made into tv spots in 1979 which ran throughout the 1980s . 10 steve steigman was the photographer 11 and richard wagner s ride of the valkyries was used for music . in the uk the music used was night on bald mountain by modest mussorgsky . the ads depict a man sitting low in a le corbusier high armed chair on the right side of the screen in front of and facing a jbl l100 speaker the left side of the screen . his hair and necktie along with the lampshade to the man s right and the martini glass on the low table to the man s left are being blown back by the tremendous sound from speakers in front of him supposedly due to the audio accuracy of maxell s product . he is shown desperately clinging to the armrests but defiantly looking ahead at the source of the music through sunglasses though calmly catching his drink before it slides off the end table . television commercials showed the chair a drink and nearby lamp being pushed away from the stereo by the strong force of the sound waves . the image became the de facto standard of those who believed their stereo equipment had sufficient power or accuracy to move the mind and the soul . the model for the uk not us ad campaign was musician peter murphy of the group bauhaus . the model for the us campaign however was the makeup artist hired for the shoot by photographer steve steigman . 12 the impact of the advertising campaign on popular culture still resonates today blown away guy was recently parodied on the popular animated television show family guy in the episode model misbehavior . this is only the most recent in countless parodies over the years which includes a parody in the john ritter film stay tuned which featured a character s head being blown off by a max hell tape . in the 2010 movie jackass 3d the commercial is parodied with ryan dunn sitting in the chair while the blast from a jet engine sends the set blowing away . the original soundtrack of the first tv ad read after 500 plays maxell still delivers high fidelity . this durability and quality message did not have the staying power of the blown away image which still lives today . on december 12 2005 maxell decided to bring blown away guy back due to its popularity . as maxell now makes blank dvds and cds headphones speakers and blank audio and video tape the ads have been updated with photos of ipods and accessories underneath the image . get blown away is the headline while copy urges consumers to use maxell accessories to make your small ipod sound like a huge audio system . the music video for p. diddy s song tell me is somewhat reminiscent of the blown away guy ad . see also edit list of digital camera brands cassette demagnetizer references edit corporate data in japanese . retrieved march 23 2014 . corporate profile . google finance . retrieved march 23 2014 . hitachi maxell to list on tokyo bourse in 750m ipo . the wall street journal . february 14 2014 . retrieved march 23 2014 . company profile . retrieved march 23 2014 . maxell usa website . engadget hitachi maxell announces listing on first section of tokyo stock exchange pdf . march 18 2014 . retrieved march 23 2014 . hitachi maxell claims huge lithium ion battery breakthrough . too good to be true treehugger maxell airstash specifications 1980s maxell tape commercial on youtube blown away poster ; steve steigman ; art.com elliot stuart july 5 2006 . the blow away guy rides again . the new york times . retrieved may 4 2010 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to hitachi maxell . maxell corporate website maxell business website products company profile from hoover s online 1980s maxell tape commercial on youtube v t e hitachi divisions and subsidiaries current clarion hitachi cable hitachi cable manchester hitachi canadian industries hitachi capital hitachi construction machinery hitachi construction machinery europe hitachi consulting hitachi data systems bluearc hitachi electronics hitachi maxell hitachi medical systems hitachi rail horizon nuclear power jecs former euclid trucks1 fabrik1 hitachi global storage technologies2 joint ventures and shareholdings agility trains 40 % alaxala networks 60 % ge hitachi nuclear energy 40 % hitachi lg data storage japan display 10 % nec casio mobile communications 9.26 % nippon columbia 18.21 % renesas electronics 30.62 % telcon construction solutions 60 % products services and standards current alis d vhs emiew hitachi adaptable modular storage 2000 hitachi dx07 hitachi starboard locomotives hitachi magic wand multiple units hitachi 917 hitachi sr8000 hitachi travelstar hitachi truecopy ls r m8 stacked volumetric optical disk superh universal storage platform defunct h8 family hd64180 hitac hitac s 810 hitachi 6309 hitachi deskstar hitachi flora prius hitachi g1000 hitachi hatsukaze hitachi sr2201 hitachi t. 2 hitachi tr .1 m6 microdrive people namihei odaira kenichi ohmae hiroaki nakanishi takashi kawamura places hitachi kashiwa soccer stadium hitachi ibaraki hitachi tower ts tenkaku other dkb group hdmi licensing hitachi 3tours championship hitachi data systems history the hitachi foundation hindu hitachi scholarships hitachi sunrockers hitachi rivale kashiwa reysol 1now integrated into other hitachi divisions or business groupings 2sold category commons v t e electronics industry in japan companies current alaxala networks alinco alps alpine anritsu aor audio technica brother canon casio citizen watch cosina d & m holdings denon marantz daikin dainippon screen denso dnp eiki eizo elpida esp guitars fanuc fostex fuji electric fujifilm fuji xerox fujitsu fujitsu ten funai furuno futaba hamamatsu photonics hirose electric hitachi clarion hitachi maxell hoya ibanez icom ikegami tsushinki i o data iwatsu japan display jeol jrc jr propo jvc kenwood jvc kenwood kawai keyence kiramek konica minolta ko propo korg kyocera luxman mabuchi motor mamiya maspro melco minebea mitsubishi electric mitsumi electric murata manufacturing mutoh nakamichi nec nec casio mobile communications nichia nichicon nidec nidec copal corporation nikon nintendo nitto denko oki olympus omron onkyo orion electric panasonic pioneer pixela renesas electronics ricoh pentax rohm roland rubycon sansui sanwa electronic sega sammy sega seiko group pulsar seiko seiko epson seiko instruments sharp shimadzu sigma sony sony interactive entertainment snk playmore star micronics stax sumitomo electric taiyo yuden tamron tdk teac tiger tokyo electron topcon toshiba uniden wacom yaesu yagi uda yamaha yaskawa zojirushi zoom zuken defunct aiwa akai bronica chinon contax konica minolta national norita okaya optical sanyo other electronic industries association of japan incj japan electronic industries development association japan electronics and information technology industries association category retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title hitachi maxell & oldid 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