Avnet Celebrates 100 Years of Accelerating Technology and Distribution

Global technology solutions provider reaches centennial milestone

PHOENIX, US – Media
OutReach – 26 January 2020 – At a time of major global change, leading technology solutions provider Avnet
(NASDAQ: AVT) is marking the company’s 100^th
anniversary in 2021, joining an elite group of companies that have reached
their centennial. From its origins on
Radio Row, the Manhattan warehouse district famous for its post-World War I
electronics shops, to its current position as a top global distributor, Avnet has
spent the last century navigating the complex technology landscape and helping
its customers do the same.

This milestone
represents a century of transformation and resilience, and Avnet’s Centennial
Central website celebrates the people, values and foundation that have helped
the company thrive over its 100-year history.

“Congratulations to
the employees, leaders, partners, shareholders and customers who have helped
the company reach this landmark anniversary. Your talent, relationships and
innovative spirit will help us further drive technology forward in the next
century,” said Phil Gallagher, CEO. “Less than one percent of U.S.-based companies
achieve this milestone. We are honored to join the elite group of companies that
have made it to their centennial. In one hundred years, Avnet has gone from a
small components shop to a global distributor and solutions provider firmly set
at the center of the technology value chain. These last hundred years have been
driven by generations of employees who continue to shape and transform Avnet to
meet new market challenges and deliver world-changing technology solutions to
our customers and suppliers.”

Throughout the
years, Avnet embarked on a continuous transformation alongside the
ever-evolving technology market. Resiliency, adaptability and execution have
been key as Avnet continues to enable its customers and accelerate
technological development through its expertise in components distribution and
deep knowledge of the global supply chain. Today, Avnet is continually
strengthening and evolving its core business, managing the complex global
environment with diverse revenue streams that drive top-line growth while
continuing to innovate and accelerate our differentiated capabilities such as
digital, Avnet Integrated and IoT solutions. The company continues to help
supplier partners deploy their technologies to meet end customers’ needs. Avnet
is ranked #169^{on the FORTUNE 500, #579 on the Forbes Global 2000,
and has been named one of Ethisphere’s Most Ethical Companies for seven
consecutive years.}

KEY DATES

• 1921: Avnet was founded by Charles Avnet, a 33-year-old Russian
  immigrant.
• 1940s: The company opened its first manufacturing facility to
  assemble state-of-the-art military antennas–remaining at the forefront of
  innovation by helping master this technology and condense delivery times
  to help the U.S. war effort.
• 1955: Avnet was incorporated.
• 1956: The company opened its second connector assembly plant near
  Los Angeles, Calif.
• 1959: Avnet goes public on the American Stock Exchange as Avnet
  Electronics Corp.
• 1965: Avnet purchased Guild Musical Instruments. Throughout the
  1960s and 70s, the company made guitars and counted The Beatles and Richie
  Havens among its customers.
• 1968: Avnet landed on the moon for the second time. The company
  provided a range of zero-defect components to Hughes Aircraft, which built
  the Surveyor soft-landing lunar spacecraft. The fifth Surveyor touched
  down at the Tycho Crater on January 10,1968. This is also the same year
  that Avnet entered the Fortune 500, at #467.
• 1969: Avnet became the first technology distributor to place an
  order with Intel.
• 1975: Avnet operated 33
  microprocessor demonstration centers, as semiconductor sales were almost
  triple that of connectors.
• 1979: Avnet opens the U.S.
  distribution industry’s first Asia stocking location in Tokyo.
• 1984: When chip supply began outstripping
  demand and created an excess of inventory throughout the semiconductor
  industry in the 1980s, Avnet revolutionized the industry by centralizing
  and automating its inventory management in its first mega-warehouse
  in Peabody, Mass.
• 1987: Avnet launches a
  second mega-warehouse in Chandler, Ariz., linking the two with a proprietary
  online transaction processing computer system named “Genesis” in 1988.
• 1993: Avnet was the only distributor in the US to offer all five
  American semiconductor lines.
• 1997: Avnet Design Services is launched to meet customers’ demand
  for engineering and technical assistance.
• 1999: Avnet opens a distribution center in Singapore and a warehouse
  in Hong Kong.
• 2000-2020: Avnet acquired 68 companies, including Premier Farnell, Softweb and Witekio.
• 2012: Farnell begins selling the first Raspberry Pi, the Model B. By
  2020, Farnell had sold 15 million of the 30 million Raspberry Pis sold.
• 2021: Avnet celebrates its 100^th anniversary with a
  continued commitment to furthering today’s ideas into tomorrow’s
  technologies.

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