PerkinElmer history

They incorporated the growing firm on 13 December 1939.

Circa 1941 brochure for Mogey Telescopes distributed by Perkin-ELmer.

1942 Perkin-Elmer becomes the first optical instrument maker to win a Navy "E" (for Excellence).

The company also was able, however, to arrange for research that extended its optical know-how into a brand new field, coming out with its initial infrared spectrometer in 1944.

EG&G had been established in 1947 by MIT professor Harold E. Edgerton and several former students and had been involved in a wide variety of activities including nuclear weapons management for the government.

THEN: In the 1950’s, our aerial panoramic camera lenses were capable of recording the entire state of Pennsylvania in two flyovers, with resolution that enabled one to count the autos on the Penn Turnpike.

Elmer died at age 83 in 1954, and the company began trading shares over the counter.

A significant advance was 1955's Transverse Panoramic Camera, which took images on 12 by 14 ft (3.7 by 4.3 m) wide frames that provided single-frame images from horizon to horizon from an aircraft flying at 40,000 ft altitude.

Perkin remained as president and CEO until June 1961, when Robert Lewis, previously of Argus Camera and Sylvania Electric Products, took over these roles.

Profits, while more volatile, also had grown strongly from around $2 million in 1963.

In 1967 the United States Air Force approached Perkin-Elmer asking them if they could produce an all-optical "masking" system for semiconductor fabrication.

Perkin remained chairperson, concentrating on long-range plans and overseas development, until his death at age 62 in 1969.

1971 METCO Inc. is acquired.

In 1973 it introduced the Micralign projection mask aligner, designed to facilitate the production of semiconductors.

For instance, in 1975 it brought out an infrared spectrometer controlled by a microprocessor; a decade later, the company offered augmented automation by use of robotics.

1977 Perkin-Elmer receives a contract to develop the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA.

Profits peaked at $82.6 million, however, in fiscal year 1981.

By 1982, the Wollongong Group Edition 7 Unix and Programmer's Workbench (PWB) were available on models such as the Perkin-Elmer 3210 and 3240 minicomputers.

In 1985, the computing division of Perkin-Elmer was spun off as Concurrent Computer Corporation.

In 1986 Perkin formed a joint venture with biotech specialist Cetus Corporation.

As a measure of the magnitude of these steps, the historically recalculated revenues from "continuing operations" for fiscal 1987 came to only $600 million or less than half the record $1.3 billion that all of the then-operating units had actually brought in.

Fiscal 1988 brought the anticipated rebound, with profits of $72 million.

For fiscal 1989, both sales and profits from continuing operations showed healthy gains over the two preceding years, but an $82 million write-down of the businesses being dropped resulted in a net loss of $24 million.

After the $1.5 billion telescope was finally launched into space in 1990, it was discovered that the Hubble could not achieve its full mission because of some design and manufacturing flaws.

In December 1991 Cetus was acquired by Chiron Corp. after selling its PCR technology to major drug producer Hoffmann-La Roche.

The July 1992 year saw recovery with revenues at a post-divestiture high of $911 million and profits of $59 million.

By 1995, shareholders were dissatisfied with Perkin-Elmer's direction and demanded the company take action to increase shareholder value.

In 1997 they merged with PerSeptive Biosystems.

1999 The Analytical Instruments division is sold to EG&G Inc.; EG&G changes its name to PerkinElmer Inc.

Perkin-Elmer purchased the Boston operations of NEN Life Sciences in 2001.

By 2002, nearly 80 percent of what was the old EG&G had been sold.

Together, the new unit accounted for 65 percent of revenues in 2003.

In 2004, revenue increased by 10 percent over the previous year.

In 2005, PerkinElmer set plans in motion to jettison its fluid sciences business unit.

In 2006, PerkinElmer sold off the Fluid Sciences division for approximately US$400 million; the aim of the selloff was to increase the strategic focus on its higher-growth health sciences and photonic markets.

PerkinElmer had a license to use the brand till the end of year 2007.

In March 2008, PerkinElmer purchased Pediatrix Screening (formerly Neo Gen Screening), a laboratory located in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania specializing in screening newborns for various inborn errors of metabolism such as phenylketonuria, hypothyroidism, and sickle-cell disease.

In September 2011, PerkinElmer bought Caliper Life Sciences for US$600 million.

In January 2016, PerkinElmer acquired Swedish firm Vanadis Diagnostics.

In January 2017, the company announced it would acquire the Indian in vitro diagnostic company, Tulip Diagnostics.

In 2018, the company acquired Australian biotech company, RHS Ltd., Chinese manufacturer of analytical instruments, Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co.

In November 2020, PerkinElmer announced it would acquire Horizon Discovery Group for around US$383 million.