The figures above are derived from Hitachi’s corporate profile for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026.3

Hitachi is best understood as a large-scale technology conglomerate and industrial group rather than solely an electronics manufacturer. Its historical foundations lie in electrical engineering and heavy industry. Over more than a century, the company has developed a vast array of equipment ranging from electric motors, transformers, and locomotives to elevators, power generation systems, computers, and industrial machinery.4

In the 21st century, Hitachi has repositioned itself around the integration of information technology (IT), operational technology (OT), and physical products or infrastructure. This approach means that Hitachi provides not only physical machinery but also the accompanying software, data systems, control mechanisms, artificial intelligence, maintenance services, and digital solutions. Key sectors include:

• Power grids and energy management
• High-speed and urban railway systems
• Railway signalling and traffic management
• Industrial automation and manufacturing technologies
• Digital transformation and cloud systems
• AI and IoT applications
• Healthcare equipment and diagnostics
• Analytical instruments
• Elevators and building management systems

Hitachi describes this strategic direction as progress occurring where digital technology meets the physical world.5

Namihei Odaira

Hitachi was founded by Namihei Odaira, an electrical engineer dedicated to advancing Japan’s domestic industrial and electrical capabilities. The company’s origins date to 1910, when Odaira established an electrical machinery repair and manufacturing operation at the Hitachi mine in Ibaraki Prefecture. One of the enterprise’s earliest significant achievements was the completion of a 5-horsepower induction motor.6

From its inception, the company emphasised the development of indigenous Japanese engineering capabilities over reliance on imported technology. This commitment to engineering excellence, manufacturing quality, research, and technological self-reliance became a defining element of Hitachi’s corporate identity.7

Incorporation

Although the company recognises 1910 as its founding year, Hitachi was legally incorporated as Hitachi, Ltd. on 1 February 1920.8

Hitachi expanded rapidly beyond its initial focus on electric motors. Notable milestones in its early decades include:

1910s

• Electric motors
• Transformers
• Electrical measuring instruments
• Large water turbines
• Fans

1920s

Hitachi entered the railway sector, producing Japan’s first large-scale domestically manufactured electric locomotive in 1924. The company also commenced exports in 1926 with electric fans.9

1930s

During this decade, Hitachi diversified into transformers, elevators, refrigerators, water infrastructure, electrical control systems, diesel engines, and escalators. Elevator production began in 1932, with the first passenger elevator delivered the following year. The first Hitachi escalator was delivered in 1936.10

This period demonstrates that Hitachi maintained an exceptionally broad product portfolio long before the era of the modern multinational conglomerate.

Following World War II, Hitachi played a pivotal role in Japan’s reconstruction and industrialisation. The company developed critical technologies across electric power, heavy machinery, transportation, telecommunications, consumer appliances, electronics, computers, industrial automation, and scientific instruments.

Significant investment in research and development yielded milestones including electron microscopes, transistor-based electronics, computers, nuclear technology, power generation equipment, and advanced industrial machinery.11 By the latter half of the 20th century, Hitachi had established itself as one of Japan’s premier diversified technology companies.

For much of the late 20th century, particularly outside Japan, Hitachi was widely recognised as a consumer electronics and appliance brand. Products bearing the Hitachi name included televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, audio equipment, camcorders, computers, hard disk drives, and projectors.

While this legacy contributes to continued brand recognition, it no longer accurately reflects the composition of Hitachi’s overall business. The company has progressively divested from many consumer-facing categories to focus on enterprise technology, infrastructure, energy, transportation, industrial systems, and digital services.

The 2000s marked a critical period of restructuring for Hitachi. Facing intense competition in consumer electronics and rapid shifts in the global technology landscape, the company realigned its portfolio to leverage its combined strengths in engineering, infrastructure, software, and data analytics.

This transformation shifted the strategic emphasis towards digital technology, infrastructure, industrial systems, energy, transportation, and enterprise services. Consequently, Hitachi evolved from being perceived primarily as a Japanese electronics manufacturer into a comprehensive digital-industrial company.

As of 2026, Hitachi positions itself as a global leader in digital innovation and sustainable solutions. Its business operations are organised into seven primary segments:12

1. Digital
2. Energy
3. Mobility
4. Industry
5. Measurement & Analytical Systems
6. Healthcare
7. Building Systems

Digital

The Digital segment is central to Hitachi’s modern strategy, encompassing cloud computing, data platforms, artificial intelligence, generative AI, industrial IoT, digital engineering, enterprise software, control systems, cybersecurity, and IT/OT integration. A core tenet of this segment is the fusion of IT with OT and physical infrastructure, which is particularly valuable in industries requiring software interaction with real-world assets such as factories, power grids, and transport networks.13

Lumada platform

Lumada serves as Hitachi’s proprietary digital solutions platform, integrating data, AI, IoT, and industrial expertise to resolve business and infrastructure challenges. Rather than supplying standalone hardware, Lumada enables comprehensive solutions that collect operational data, apply AI analytics, predict equipment failures, optimise efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and support digital transformation. Investor materials identify Lumada as a cornerstone of Hitachi’s transition to a digital-industrial business model.14

Energy

Hitachi’s Energy segment addresses electrification and the energy transition through technologies for electricity transmission, power grids, grid automation, renewable energy integration, nuclear power, hydrogen systems, and utility management. The company focuses heavily on the infrastructure required to move, control, distribute, digitise, and optimise electricity rather than solely on generation.15

Mobility

Building on a railway heritage dating to the 1920s, Hitachi’s Mobility business is among its most internationally visible. Activities span high-speed trains, metro and commuter rolling stock, signalling, traffic management, train control systems, and digital railway maintenance. This segment exemplifies Hitachi’s strategy of connecting physical infrastructure with digital technology through integrated solutions combining trains, signalling, software, and data.16

Industry

The Industry segment supports manufacturers through factory automation, industrial IoT, manufacturing optimisation, AI analytics, supply chain management, and connected factory systems. The objective is to transform traditional manufacturing facilities into data-driven, connected industrial environments.17

Healthcare

Hitachi applies its expertise in electronics, sensors, precision engineering, and computing to the healthcare sector through medical imaging, diagnostic systems, healthcare IT, analytical equipment, and related digital systems.

Measurement & Analytical Systems

This technically specialised segment provides sophisticated scientific and industrial instruments for analysing materials, chemicals, and biological samples, building upon Hitachi’s extensive history in precision engineering and scientific instrumentation.18

Building Systems

Hitachi continues its long-standing involvement in building infrastructure through elevators, escalators, building management systems, vertical transportation, and smart building technologies. This business traces its roots directly to Hitachi’s commencement of elevator production in 1932 and delivery of its first passenger elevator in 1933.

Hitachi operates as a truly global enterprise with a significant footprint beyond Japan. As of 31 March 2026, the Group reported 287,901 consolidated employees and 607 consolidated subsidiaries worldwide. Consolidated revenue for FY2025 stood at ¥10.5868 trillion.19 Operations span Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and other regions.

Hitachi’s founding mission, “Contribute to society through the development of superior, original technology and products,” remains central to its corporate identity.20 In the modern era, this philosophy has expanded to encompass solving large-scale social problems through sustainability, digital transformation, energy transition, mobility innovation, and data-driven partnerships.

Historically, the Hitachi brand symbolised Japanese engineering, quality, reliability, and social contribution. Today, while preserving these associations, the brand has evolved from representing a manufacturer of reliable electrical products to signifying a technology company that integrates digital systems with physical infrastructure to solve industrial and societal challenges.21

It is important to distinguish between the Hitachi Group’s current strategic focus and the consumer appliances that may still carry the Hitachi name. While branded white goods remain visible in markets like Singapore, the Group’s economic core now lies in digital systems, power grids, railways, industrial solutions, analytical systems, healthcare, and building infrastructure.

Hitachi’s primary competitive differentiator is its breadth. Unlike firms specialising solely in software, rail, power equipment, or medical devices, Hitachi integrates these domains simultaneously. Its value proposition combines physical infrastructure, engineering, operational expertise, software, data, and AI. For instance, a single railway project may encompass rolling stock, signalling, traffic management, predictive maintenance, and digital services, while an energy project might integrate grid hardware with automation, monitoring, and analytics. This integrated approach defines Hitachi’s current market positioning.22

Historical milestones are based primarily on Hitachi’s official corporate history.23

Hitachi’s trajectory can be visualised as a progression from electrical machinery in the 1910s to heavy industry and infrastructure in the mid-20th century, followed by dominance in electronics and computing from the 1960s to the 1990s. The 2000s brought global diversification and subsequent restructuring, leading to the current era defined by digital technology, AI, energy, rail, and industrial infrastructure. Although famous historically as a Japanese electronics brand, Hitachi’s modern identity is that of an industrial technology, infrastructure, and digital transformation company. This evolution—from electric motors to AI-enabled infrastructure—constitutes the central narrative of Hitachi’s history spanning more than a century.24

1. Corporate Profile : Hitachi Global
2. History (1910-1960) : Hitachi Global
3. About Us : Hitachi Global
4. Products & Solutions : Hitachi Global
5. Group Companies : Hitachi Global
6. Outline of Hitachi 2016
7. SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION
8. About the Hitachi Group
9. Hitachi at a glance : Investor Relations : Hitachi Global
10. Products & Solutions: Hitachi Global
11. Investor Relations : Hitachi Global
12. Investor Relations : Hitachi Global
13. Investor Relations : Hitachi Global
14. Hitachi High-Tech at a Glance ! Company Figures. : Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
15. About Us | Hitachi Digital Services
16. From founding to creation, our mission continues : Hitachi
17. Products & Solutions
18. Home : Hitachi Global
19. Home : Hitachi Global
20. Home : Hitachi Global
21. History : Hitachi Global
22. Integrated Report : Investor Relations : Hitachi Global
23. About Social Infrastructure Information Systems Division: Social Infrastructure Information Systems: Hitachi
24. Business Report : Investor Relations : Hitachi Global