What brand is APCUPS

APC - The Innovation History of IT Infrastructure

Over the course of nearly 40 years, APC has become the industry standard for reliable power and IT infrastructure. Today, with our history of innovation, we provide critical power, management, and data security solutions to institutions and businesses worldwide, both on the user side of IT infrastructure and within our extensive channel partner ecosystem.

In 1981, the American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) was founded with a focus on research and development of solar power. The company, formed by three electrical engineers from MIT, opened a factory in Rhode Island in 1986 and produced its first UPS, the 450AT+, which received the "Editor's Choice" award from PC Magazine. In 1988, APC went public with a successful stock offering.

In 1989, the award-winning PowerChute® software revolutionized power management, and major distributors like Tech Data and Ingram Micro were authorized to bring the product to market. In 1990, APC continued to introduce outstanding products, such as the widely recognized Smart-UPS® product line. That same year, APC's President and CEO, Rodger B. Dowdell, Jr., was named "New England Entrepreneur of the Year" by Inc. Magazine.

Throughout the 1990s, APC introduced 155 new products, expanding into different application areas, including SurgeArrest® surge protectors, the industry's first modular UPS called Matrix-UPS®, the next generation of Smart-UPS, the company's first Back-UPS Pro® UPS, and the game-changing Symmetra® Power Array™ series. With the development of these products, the completion of two international manufacturing facilities (Galway, Ireland in 1994 and the Philippines in 1996), and the acquisitions of Systems Enhancement Corp. and Silcon A/S, APC's annual revenue surpassed $1 billion in 1998.

In 1999, APC entered the residential market with PowerShield, a solution for home broadband and fixed wireless broadband. Following that, the company made three strategic acquisitions in the new millennium, opening up three markets: the communication equipment DC power supply market, the network connectivity market for home and enterprise IT, and the precision cooling market for data centers and communication equipment. After acquiring ARRIS in 2001, APC further strengthened its capabilities in broadband network power. In 2002, APC launched its first product, PowerStruXure™, as part of its Network Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI) architecture, revolutionizing data center power management. That same year, the company entered the NASDAQ 100 Index, which includes the 100 largest non-financial stocks in the market.

In 2003, InfraStruXure™ was introduced to the market, an integrated solution for power, cooling, racks, management, and services. It won nearly 20 awards globally for its open, adaptive, and integrated approach. The TravelPower™ Case, a case with built-in charging capabilities, was an immediate success upon its launch. In 2004, the InfraStruXure product line expanded into cooling systems and online power generation. That year, APC received over 100 awards globally for its product and business excellence. Building on the success of PowerStruXure since 2002, APC expanded its NCPI capabilities with the acquisition of Netbotz, a startup company focused on addressing physical security issues for IT equipment. This allowed APC to extend its industry expertise into the management and security categories.

On February 14, 2007, APC was acquired by Schneider Electric, forming the Critical Power business unit.