Alps Alpine Co., Ltd, previously known as Alps Electric Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, producing electronic devices, including switches, potentiometers, sensors, encoders and touchpads. The company was established in 1948 as Kataoka Electric Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Alps Electric Co., Ltd. in December 1964. Since June 22, 2012, the President has been Toshihiro Kuriyama and Chairman is Masataka Kataoka. Alps is also well known for the Alpine brand of car audio. The Alps Electric Group has R&D, production and sales bases located in Japan and around the globe—in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Greater China. Since its founding, Alps Electric has supplied around 40,000 types of electronic components to over 2,000 manufacturers of home appliances, mobile devices, automobiles and industrial equipment worldwide. In 2014, Alps Group comprised 84 subsidiary companies, 25 through Alps Electric, 32 through Alpine Electronics and 27 through Alps Logistics. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and a constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index. Wikipedia