AOS vs KN

A.O. Smith Corporation

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. It operates through two segments, North America and Rest of World. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels and motels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; residential and commercial boilers for space heating applications in hospitals, schools, hotels, and other commercial buildings; and water treatment products, including on-the-go filtration bottles, point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products, point-of-entry water softeners, and whole-home water filtration products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices. It also provides food and beverage filtration products; expansion tanks, commercial solar water heating systems, swimming pool and spa heaters, and related products and parts; and heat pumps, combi-boilers, solar tank units, and air purification products. The company offers its products primarily under the A. O. Smith, State, Lochinvar, and water softener brands. It distributes its products through independent wholesale plumbing distributors, as well as through retail channels consisting of hardware and home center chains, and manufacturer representative firms; and offers Aquasana branded products directly to consumers through e-commerce, as well as other online retailers. The company was founded in 1874 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Knowles Corporation

Knowles Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells micro-acoustic, audio processing, and precision device solutions for the mobile consumer electronics, communications, medtech, defense, electric vehicle, and industrial markets. It operates in two segments, Audio and Precision Devices (PD). The Audio segment designs and manufactures audio products, including microphones, balanced armature speakers, and audio processors used in applications that serve the mobile, ear, and Internet of Things markets. The PD segment designs and delivers capacitor products and mmWave radio frequency solutions that are used in applications, such as power supplies and medical implants, satellite communication, and radar systems, as well as for telecommunications infrastructure applications. The company also provides single layer electronic components to the telecommunication, fiber optics, and defense markets. It sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and to their contract manufacturers and suppliers, as well as through distributors. The company has operations in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. Knowles Corporation was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.