First Steps

Dr Willis Carrier first invented the air conditioner in 1902. Three decades later, in 1932, Carrier air-conditioning made its debut in Singapore when United Engineers was appointed distributor of Carrier products. The first Carrier unit was installed at the Chinese Club. Several years later, more people in Singapore were introduced to Carrier's cool comfort through systems installed in public entertainment areas at Capitol and Cathay cinemas. Since then, Carrier's blue oval logo has been well known throughout the island and is synonymous with air-conditioning in Singapore.

Growth and Establishment

In 1954, Carrier entered into a joint-venture with local businessmen to form International Airconditioning Company Limited (IAC Limited) to distribute and service air-conditioning equipment in Singapore, Malaysia and the region. The fifties saw an increase in air-conditioning installations. The first centrifugal unit was installed at Robinson's former store at Raffles Place. Radio Singapore enjoyed a complete air-conditioning system and Tai Thong Restaurant became Singapore's first Chinese restaurant to be air-conditioned. The Elizabeth Grill at Raffles Hotel and the Adelphi Grill followed suit. Carrier also installed air-conditioning in some of Singapore's landmark buildings -- the Hong Kong Bank at Collyer Quay (since demolished and rebuilt), the Bank of China Building and the Goodwood Park Hotel. The main government buildings were Carrier domains. Carrier air-conditioning systems also cooled the Supreme Court.

Consolidation of Operation

In 1962, in line with political and economic changes in South East Asia, IAC Limited was reorganised into three companies in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 1971, IAC Limited was listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore and Malaysia.

With the boom in the building and construction industry, the seventies saw a record number of installations which consolidated Carrier's rise to prominence. Multi-national and international companies such as Philips, Hewlett-Packard and Siemens were cooled by Carrier.

Leading hotels like Marco Polo, Pavilion Intercontinental Hotel and the Royal Holiday Inn chose Carrier. The A&W fast food chains also used Carrier air-conditioning.

In 1976, Carrier acquired IAC limited, and in 1979, IAC (Singapore) changed its name to Carrier (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Industry Leader

Carrier has remained the industry leader in Singapore over the last six decades. Landmark buildings in Singapore like Singapore Changi Airport, Marina Square, Raffles City, Suntec City, and Singapore Expo all chose Carrier for unsurpassed cool comfort. In 1999, Carrier integrated Toshiba’s air-conditioning division and assumed all operations of marketing and servicing all Toshiba air-conditioning systems. According to Singapore Top 1000, an annual survey of the top 1000 locally incorporated companies, Carrier Singapore has ranked first in the air-conditioning industry in terms of revenue, income, shareholders' funds and assets since 1987.

A Short Timeline

Our Leading Edge

Carrier remains the only air-conditioning company in Singapore that has the ability to provide a full range of air-conditioning equipment for the residential, commercial and industrial market segments.

Advance Technology

On the technology front, Carrier leads the field with 20 design and engineering centres worldwide. It works concurrently with product development teams to constantly match the practical needs of its millions of customers to the wizardry of today's technologies.

The ability to customised technology to fit changing needs is a Carrier hallmark which few can emulate.

This is evident from Carrier's ongoing efforts both in the commercial and residential sectors.

Commercial Sector

Achieving a synergy in product development under the umbrella of UTC (United Technologies Corporation), we have introduced turbine technology from the jet engineering team into the development of centrifugal technology for our air-conditioning systems.

We have been scoring outstanding achievements on the commercial and industrial front. Carrier is the preferred choice of international airports in major cities in Asia such as Singapore, Xiamen (China), Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bali (Indonesia), Manila (Philippines), Macau, and Cairns, Sydney and Melbourne (Australia).

Residential Sector

We have been developing customised products according to market needs. This is most evident in our designed-for-HDB units.

We have taken the lead by enhancing our existing systems to create new products. Our System 6 is an innovation specifically designed to cool up to 6 rooms at one time. Our Intelligent Energy Saving Multi-system has raised the notch even higher with the introduction of the variable speed compressor technology -- allowing for immense energy savings.

This is possible because we have a marketing-oriented approach to satisfy the needs of the market in order to achieve excellence in customer satisfaction

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