Kyocera Communications
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile phones |
| Founded | April 1, 2008 |
| Headquarters | San Diego , United States |
Area served | United States, Canada |
| Parent | Kyocera Corporation |
Kyocera Communications, Inc. (Japanese: 京セラ Kyōsera) is a U.S.-based producer of mobile phone devices serving wireless carriers across the United States and Canada. It functions as a fully owned subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation, which also manufactures mobile phones for the Japanese market under multiple brand names.
History
The foundation of Kyocera Communications dates back to February 2000, when Kyocera purchased Qualcomm's terrestrial handset division located in San Diego, leading to the creation of Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC). In 2003, KWC ventured into India's CDMA sector by launching Kyocera Wireless India (KWI) in Bangalore, which was subsequently divested to Mindtree Ltd. in 2009.
Kyocera Corp.'s acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.s mobile phone business in 2008 for $375 million positioned the company as the sixth-largest global manufacturer of cell phones. Following this, on April 1, 2008, Kyocera established Kyocera Sanyo Telecom, Inc. (KSTI) utilizing Sanyo's North American assets and entered the GSM handset segment with a focus on Latin American markets. Sanyo-branded handsets remained available until 2010.
On April 1, 2009, Kyocera consolidated KWC and KSTI into Kyocera Communications, Inc. (KCI), headquartered in San Diego. Today, KCI is a key provider of mobile devices to major North American carriers such as AT&T, Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, Sprint Corporation, T-Mobile US, Verizon Wireless, among others.
In October 2011, Sprint launched Kyocera's rugged Dura Series, featuring devices equipped with Sprint’s CDMA-based Push to Talk functionality. The Kyocera Brigadier, introduced in August 2014, was notable for being the first U.S. smartphone to incorporate a sapphire glass screen—a technology that was later integrated into Verizon's Duraforce Pro models released in 2016 and 2018.
Advancing into 2022, Kyocera developed transmissive metasurface technology aimed at improving 5G network coverage and performance. In April 2023, the company purchased a 37-acre site in Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture, to establish a smart factory dedicated to manufacturing ceramic parts for semiconductor use.
External links
- 2008 establishments in California
- American companies established in 2008
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies
- Electronics companies established in 2008
- Electronics companies of the United States
- Kyocera
- Manufacturing companies based in San Diego
- Mobile phone companies of the United States
- Mobile phone manufacturers
- Technology companies based in San Diego